The Madman's Heir
by Lady Razorsharp
Summary: The Hood has hatched his most nefarious plot yet, one designed to bring the Thunderbirds down from within while giving him the one thing he wants-but can't have. Can they stop him before what he's done tears them apart?
1. Procedural

_**AN: I have absolutely no idea where this came from. However a few things to note:**_

 _ **1\. Dubious consent**_

 _ **2\. Medical theft/body violation**_

 _ **3\. This version of the Hood is somewhere between TAG and the movieverse's Ben Kinglsey. YMMV.**_

The Madman's Heir

By the Lady Razorsharp

One: Procedural

Kayo threw herself against the bars of her prison. "You won't get away with this," she snarled. "Where's Scott?"

Her uncle grinned. "Don't worry; I didn't harm him. Well," he amended, "he's drugged pretty heavily, but he's intact, so-" He shrugged, then his smile crept back, and he walked forward as close as he dared. "You'll see him soon enough, my dear."

Despite her earlier invective, Kayo found herself edging backwards, away from the Hood's leering face. She felt as if cold hands had seized her by the throat, and she sat down hard on the iron cot in the cell. "What-" she cleared her throat. "What are you going to do?"

As if her words had been a summons, the door opposite grated open, and a man in a white lab coat entered, carrying a surgical kit. The Hood keyed a code on the door-damnit, her head was too fuzzy and he was too quick for her to work out the numbers-and the man stepped inside the bars. He knelt and withdrew a small metal tray from the large satchel, and began to unpack various items: A pair of tubes she knew were for the collection of blood samples; alcohol swabs and squares of gauze; surgical tape; a vial of clear liquid. Kayo had been subject to any number of surgeries and repairs over the course of her time with International Rescue, but that didn't stop her from gaping at the last item the man unpacked: A large syringe with a long, large-bore needle. When all the items were organized to his liking, the man tied a surgical mask around his face, then picked up the tray and walked calmly toward her.

"No," she muttered. She didn't know what was happening, but whatever it was, _it would not happen._ " _No."_

The Hood's voice rang out, echoing on the concrete of her prison. "I'm afraid you have little choice in the matter, my dear. If you are a good girl and do as I say, you and Scott both will be released, unharmed."

"You think I believe that?" she spat, pressing herself into the bars at her back. "Our family may be many things, Uncle, but stupidity does not run in our genes."

"I very much hope that's the case," the Hood replied cryptically. "If you fight me, I'll simply ask my friend here to put you out, and I'll still get what I want. It'll be easier if you just do what I say."

The man in the mask had stopped in the middle of the room, but now he took a few steps closer. Kayo had been readying herself to kick the man's tray into his face, but the Hood's words stopped her cold. If she was unconscious, there would be no way for her to do her job-which was protect Scott. Her uncle was a scoundrel, but he seemed to have something in mind that was more than just mere murder. Kayo scoffed internally; she wasn't sure which was worse. If she was alone, she would have gladly fought to her dying breath to deny the Hood whatever it was he wanted. However, fate had conspired to bring her and Scott down together, and now all she could do was make sure they lived through this.

"This won't take long," the Hood continued, his voice gaining an obscenely pleased edge when he saw her unclench from her defensive position. "Doctor, if you would begin the procedure."

The faceless doctor finally met Kayo's eyes, and she was shocked to note that they were the same shade of brown as Virgil's. Where her lover's eyes were full of life, these eyes were sad, as if he'd seen much more than he'd ever bargained for in this lifetime. Idly, she wondered if she would be able to rescue him, but that would have to wait to be seen.

"What's your name?" she asked him, as he knelt beside her.

He didn't answer, but he took up one of the alcohol swabs. "Please remove your flightsuit, Ms. Kyrano," he murmured.

"Usually I get to know someone before I take my clothes off for them," she quipped darkly, but he merely blinked as she took the zipper down and shrugged out of the tightly woven material. When she was down to her arming tunic and black hipsters, she made a calming little ritual of folding the flightsuit and placed the booties on top.

"Please remove your undergarments," he asked, and Kayo raised an eyebrow. "You may leave the top on."

The room was chilly and damp, but Kayo felt herself go colder still. She raised her head and sought out the luminous eyes visible in the darkness. "Turn around, you pervert," she snarled.

The Hood's only answer was a low chuckle, but he did as she demanded. When the scant beams of light reflected off the back of his bald head, Kayo once more turned her gaze to the man in front of her.

"Mind telling me what this is all about?" she asked the room in general, stripping off the microfiber garment and kicking it aside.

It was the doctor who answered, if obliquely. "Please lie down on your back. Hold out your left arm, and hold it steady." He swabbed the fold of her elbow and took a blood sample so expertly that she barely felt the stab of the needle. She watched in morbid fascination as brilliant scarlet filled the tubes one by one, then he capped the needle and pressed a bit of gauze against the tiny wound. After shaking the tubes to distribute the blood into the diagnostic compound in the bottom, he stowed them in the bag and then wrapped the gauze in place with a length of tape.

"If all you wanted was my blood, you could have just asked," Kayo snapped. "I'm type O-and I didn't need to do your little striptease for that."

"That's not all I want," came the sly voice, still echoing against the concrete. "Doctor, the second part of the procedure, if you please."

A chill went down Kayo's spine as the doctor took up another alcohol swab and applied it to the skin of her abdomen. Then the doctor turned and filled a syringe with the clear liquid from the vial and pricked the skin halfway between her pubic bone and her hip; in a few heartbeats, half of her pelvic area was numb. Her heart began to thump in her ears as the doctor finally picked up the large-bore needle, but he also took out an instrument about the size of a cell phone from his pocket and thumbed it to life. A shimmer of blue light emitted from it both below and above, and he rested it on her abdomen, adjusting the position slightly every few seconds. From her position, Kayo was able to see a blobby shape swim into the view of the display.

"I've found it," the doctor announced. "It's healthy. No cysts."

"Good. Proceed."

With a sudden shock, Kayo realized what the Hood intended to do. "This is crazy," she spluttered. "What are you-"

Her words ended in a gurgle not of pain but of pressure and violation as the doctor plunged the needle into her left ovary. She lay there, frozen, as the doctor kept his eyes on his work, the words _nonononono_ echoing through her brain but not quite reaching her mouth.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually the doctor removed the needle and its cargo of blood and serum-and, if the Hood was to be believed, who knew how many of her eggs. She blinked, and then there was a white patch of gauze and tape adorning the spot where the burglary had taken place.

"Now, my dear," said the Hood, as the doctor drew a light blanket over her, "Have a little rest. You want to be presentable for your reunion with Scott, don't you?"

With all that was within her, Kayo desperately wanted to rise, to strike, to flee and find Scott-but her body betrayed her. In seconds, she was asleep.

She woke up gasping from a nightmare; she and Scott had gone down, crashed in some featureless wilderness. Her last sight of him had been his face, bruised and bloody and twisted in pain, his arms stretched out toward her. She heard him screaming her name, the sound muffled as if she were underwater; then he was gone, and she was being thrust into the arms of a faceless mad scientist who pierced her with needles-

Kayo sat up, groaning and clutching her abdomen; she felt like she'd been kicked by a mule. Part of that hadn't been a dream, she realized. They really had gone down, they really had been separated. Scott really had screamed her name, but she hadn't been able to respond. As for the mad scientist-

She doubled over, peering at the patch of white on her stomach. Well, the doctor had been efficient, if not overly compassionate, but at least he hadn't been sadistic. However the painkiller had been a kindness that she hadn't figured the Hood would have bothered with. There were hidden depths to her Uncle, she mused, but the thought made her feel like she wanted to take a hot shower and scrub her skin raw.

She sighed. A hot shower-even a cold one-would be welcome; she felt grubby, and her teeth felt like they had fur on them. There was a stainless steel pitcher on the table in the corner, and a small plastic cup, and she decided to investigate. Slowly, she got to her feet, but the wound in her belly only gave a sharp twinge before returning to a dull ache, so she bent to retrieve her underwear and slipped them on. She padded on bare feet over to the table and picked up the pitcher, then gave it a tentative slosh. It was fairly full, so she unscrewed the top and took a long sniff. It appeared to be only water, but she poured a few fingers into the cup and sniffed again. There were plenty of poisons that were tasteless and colorless, but Kayo figured that the Hood had had several chances to kill her-and yet here she was. She took a tentative mouthful and swished, then spat the liquid into the corner of her cell. Only then did she take a sip, followed by another. That would do for now, she thought, not intending to ingest too much if the water was indeed drugged. She set the cup and pitcher back on the table, and for lack of anything else to do, went back to the cot and sat against the bars to think.

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, there were heavy clanking noises and footsteps echoing against the concrete. It wasn't a drugged sleep, she was pleased to note; just the result of a brain exhausted by fear and stress, and she shook it off to watch as the doctor returned, followed closely by the Hood.

"Feeling better, my dear?" said the Hood in an oily voice. "You certainly look rested."

"No thanks to _you_ ," she gritted. "Where's Scott? I want to see him. _Now_."

Her uncle laughed. "Didn't I tell you that you'd see him?" The doctor opened the door and stepped aside to let the Hood into the cell. "Come, Tanusha," her uncle purred, holding out his hand. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Kayo tried to keep track of the corridors, but they were featureless, so she switched to formulating a plan to get them out of the stronghold. She thought the doctor might be swayed to their side, but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. So far, the man had not deviated one bit from the Hood's wishes, either out of fear or some sort of hypnotic hold her uncle had over him, which might prove tricky.

In a moment, however, all of those thoughts were pushed aside as they came upon a glassed-in room that looked more like a hospital room than a jail cell. In the center of the room, Scott lay flat on his back in a hospital bed, his face purpled with bruises but peaceful in sleep. He too had been stripped of his blues and lay clad only in his black microfiber arming tunic, blanketed to the waist. A wave of fire flashed through her; had they done to him what they had done to her-or worse? The thought galvanized her, and she tensed, but the doctor's hand shot out and clamped around her arm. He still wore the obscuring mask, but his eyes were alive with fear. He gave a tiny shake of his head, warning her against action. Hope flared in Kayo's chest-was he going to help them? Obediently, she calmed herself, and let the Hood lead her into the quiet room.

When they were inside, the Hood stopped and quirked an eyebrow at her. He gestured silently to the prone body on the bed, and she didn't waste time. Kayo scurried to Scott's side, gripping his arm, laying her cheek against his. He was cool, but not clammy, and she could see the pulse throbbing steadily in his neck. Tears began at the corners of her eyes, and she laid her head on his chest, letting a few of them fall and soak into his shirt.

Scott stirred at the pressure of her laying against him, his hand coming up to brush the back of her head. "Kayo?" He muttered groggily. "What's going on?" He blinked at the brightness of the overhead lights. "The Hood-"

"Shh, shh." She laid a finger against his lips. "We're being held in his stronghold." She took a shuddering breath. "Scott, listen to me. We're going to get out of here, but you have to listen to me." She grabbed his chin and directed his bleary blue eyes to hers. "He's got some sort of plan, but I think he's going to let us go. You just need to follow my lead. Okay?"

She could see that he was having a hard time focusing, and she whipped her head around to stare down her uncle. "What did you give him?"

"Just a little something to make him a little more...compliant." The Hood's obscene grin was back, and Kayo's stomach did a nauseating flip. "You see, my dear, you're going to provide a service for me-well, you both are, really." He came closer, hands behind his back, and looked down at Scott, who was dozing again. "Such a fine young man-strong, healthy, good looking, intelligent. Jeff Tracy sure knew how to grow them, eh?" His delicate fingers explored Scott's muscled bicep, then touched the left side of Scott's face to bring the tousled dark head toward him. "Yes. He's a fine choice, although really, any of them would have done nicely. I just happened to hit the proverbial jackpot."

Kayo's heart was in her throat, rendering her absolutely speechless. He couldn't mean...he _couldn't._..

The thoughts ground to a halt as her uncle's eyes fastened onto hers. "You were always part of the equation, dear Tanusha," he murmured. "You see, I have no children of my own-in fact, I am unable to provide myself with an heir of my own issue, for reasons that I'm sure you will be grateful not to know. However, _you_ -flesh of my brother's flesh-you are the closest genetic relative I have."

"You're going...you want…" The words stuck in her throat again, and she swallowed hard. "A _child?_ "

"Don't look so stricken, my dear; you're not going to bear it-though that thought _had_ crossed my mind," said the Hood, hands behind his back again as he paced the floor slowly. "However, that's too much time for International Rescue to try and retrieve you. I have a very willing surrogate who is waiting to receive your genetic material."

She was afraid of the answer, but she made herself ask anyway. "Why do you need Scott?"

Now the Hood's smile was definitely a leer. "Oh, _Tanusha_. Didn't my brother ever tell you where babies come from?" At her growl, he laughed. "Come on, my girl. You know the answer to that as well as I do. I already have _your_ material-and now I need _his_." He turned toward the oblivious pilot on the bed. "And you're going to help me get it."

Kayo backed away, her mind whirling. " _No,_ " she stated flatly. " I won't."

The doctor stepped up behind her and clamped his hands around her arms; she struggled, but at the sight of Scott laying on the bed, she sagged in her captor's hands.

"I could do this very brusquely," the Hood continued. "A few strokes from a gentle, if uninterested hand, and _voila_ -I have all the material I need. However, I find this way to be much more interesting-and a little bit of poetic justice." He shrugged. "Dramatic, true, but what's the point of villainy if you don't have some fun with it?"

"You sick bastard," Kayo snarled. "I'm not going to do this so you can get your rocks off watching the playback."

The Hood leveled his piercing gaze at her. "I told you, that's not going to happen; extrapolate as you will. I may be many things, my dear, but I am not a cretin. I do have _some_ sense of propriety."

The doctor at her back squeezed her arm rhythmically, and it took a moment for her to realize it was Morse code. _Please_ , he telegraphed. _I'm sorry_.

The nausea was returning, and Kayo swallowed the bile back down with a shudder. "Let's get this over with," she snarled. "I want you both out of the room until it's over."

As soon as they had left, Kayo fell across Scott's chest, burying her face in his shirt and just letting the familiar scent of him fill her with courage. She tried to recall all the times they'd spent growing up together, laughing, fighting, learning side by side. The missions they'd gone on, the sparring matches they'd held, running together on the beach, teasing each other across the dinner table-all of it flowed through her mind until her eyes were swimming with tears.

"I love you," she whispered to him. She touched his cheek, making his eyelids flutter. "After this is over, just remember." She leaned her forehead against his. "Just remember how much I love you."

With tears rolling down her face, Kayo climbed up on the bed and tapped his cheek. "Scott. Wake up, Scott. I need you to wake up." She tapped a little harder, just below a slap. "Wake up, Scott. Please, just wake up for me."

His lashes were long and dark, and they dipped and rose a few times before coming to half mast, revealing foggy blue irises. "Kayo," he whispered. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she whispered back. "I'm fine. But listen to me-I need you to do something for me. Huh? Can you do something?"

He nodded, eyes slowly losing their fogginess. "I...I think so. Depends on what it is." A smile crooked one corner of his mouth. "If it's dancing the watusi, I think you're out of luck."

She smiled at him through her tears, then sobered. "Scott-I know this might sound strange, but I promise, it'll make sense later." She took a deep breath. "Kiss me."

His brows drew together. "I don't understand."

She shook her head, willing the tears back. "Listen. I'm going to get us out of here, but first, I need you to kiss me."

"But-Virgil-"

The name of the man she loved was a dagger in her heart, but she pressed on. "No, don't worry. I'll explain everything to him." She took Scott's face in her hands. "Just trust me."

She felt him nod, then she tipped forward and kissed him.

It was odd at first, but then Scott's hands rose to her shoulders and slid down her back, his hands palming her toned rear end as she knelt above him. Kayo found herself warming to his touch, her tongue delving deep into Scott's mouth, and then his hands had found their way under the microfiber of her underwear and she shimmied out of them. Her hands pulled away the blanket to reveal that he too had been stripped, and his reaction was becoming very clear. Whatever it was the Hood had given him, it had made Scott open to more suggestion than she'd thought possible, but that was in their favor. _It'll be over soon,_ she told herself.

Biting her lip, she straddled his hips and brushed her pelvis against him. He gasped and twitched, and she took that moment to rise up and settle herself over him. She closed her eyes so she couldn't see his face, and began to move-slowly at first, then quickening until she heard the breath catch in his throat. His fingers dug into her, pushing her against him until he was deep inside of her, his breath ragged inbetween moans of need.

"Ah-" he gasped, tensing beneath her-and then he was heaving a great sigh, his hands slipping from her body. Only then did she dare to open her eyes, and saw his face, beaded with sweat, eyelids still at half mast, irises glimmering like hidden lakes of blue.

"Kayo." His voice was shaky. "Oh, Kayo-what...Oh, God, I'm _sorry."_

She buried her head in his chest again, sobbing. "It's all right," she crooned, unsure if she was trying to comfort him or herself-or both. "It's all right."

Hands were pulling her off him then, and she would later chalk her inaction up to a moment of utter despair. So it was that when she should have exploded into action, she found herself laid on the bed opposite Scott, strapped down, and her knees pressed cruelly apart. Something was inside her now, a tool of some sort-then the doctor was bending to do something, and he came away holding a swab encased in a glass tube. The tube was handed off to a technician, who hurried out of the room with it cradled in his hands as if it contained either gold or nitroglycerin.

"You know your chances are slim," Kayo forced out. "There's no guarantee you'll get what you're after."

The Hood stepped forward to loom over her, grinning in triumph. "Ah, but there again, _I just might._ " He nodded to the doctor. "I believe we're finished here." He lowered his gaze to Kayo. "Give us fifteen minutes, then you're free to call for help. Goodbye, my dear." He kissed her cheek, and she twitched away from him. "Please give my apologies to your strapping sperm donor; he performed admirably."

They left, taking their prize with them. Kayo lay where she was, and gave in to a fit of bitter tears.

After a few minutes, Kayo made herself sit up. To her surprise, her wrists had been freed, and she rubbed at them where the leather straps had dug into her skin. It took all of her strength to climb down, find her underwear, and put them on, and when it was done she sank down on the floor beside Scott's bed and just sat for a few moments to collect herself. The thought of what had just occurred was pressing on her for analysis, for dissection, for classification, but she pushed it away and focused on getting them out of this place.

"Kayo?" Scott's voice, quiet and small and still shaky, coming from above her. "Are you still there?"

A hand lowered over the side of the bed, and Kayo took it, pressing it to her cheek. "I'm here," she confirmed. "We're going to get out of here."

She pushed up onto her feet, still holding his hand in one of hers. When she was standing over him, she noticed that the drug the Hood had given him was beginning to wear off, and the eyes of the pilot below her were more aware than they had been a few moments ago. "What is he-why did he make us-" The words were too horrible to say aloud, and he stuttered to a stop. He squeezed her arm. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She smiled. "No, you didn't hurt me." Her smile faded. "He told me that he wants a child. He can't have one of his own."

"And you're the closest relative he has," Scott filled in. His eyes went wide. "You're not going to-"

Kayo cut him off. "No. He has a surrogate. He just wanted our... _genetic material,_ as he called it." She pulled back her undergarment to show him the patch of gauze on her abdomen. "He harvested my eggs, but he…" Now it was her turn to stutter to a stop, unable to continue.

"He didn't have to do that," Scott spat. "Sick bastard, making us...what, is he gonna sell the footage to the highest bidder and blackmail us?"

She shook her head. "He said he wasn't filming it. I think he's impotent, or he may be asexual; he didn't want this for recreational purposes, if you get my meaning."

Scott turned an alarming shade of green. "Ugh. I think I'm gonna be sick."

Kayo snatched a basin from a tray of instruments, and held it as Scott did just that. After the spasm passed, she wiped his face and stowed the basin in the farthest corner of the room. "You okay?" she asked, coming to stand beside him once more.

He coughed. "Yeah. I dunno if it was the mickey he slipped me, or the thought of being blackmailed, or both, but-ugh. I'm better now." Slowly, he sat up with his head in his hands. "God, Kay. What are we going to do with this?"

"We'll worry about that later," she told him, bending to grab up his arming shorts. "Here, put these on. He told me to wait for fifteen minutes before calling for help, but he's only getting ten from me."

She waited until he was dressed, then went to where Scott's blues lay in a heap on the floor. She picked up his silver baldric and pressed the iR logo; it lit up with a reassuring glimmer of light. "Thunderbird Shadow to Thunderbird Five," she called. "John, it's Kayo." She glanced over at her friend, her brother-and now, very possibly, the father to her child. "I've got Scott with me. We need extraction."


	2. Raw and Bleeding

_**AN: Possible trigger for attempted suicide.**_

The Madman's Heir

By The Lady Razorsharp

Two: Raw and Bleeding

 _-two weeks later-_

"You need to talk to someone."

Kayo whirled around from her contemplation of the Pacific to face the speaker, and her heart sank.

Virgil stood in the doorway, his brows knitted, worry and sadness on the face she loved so well. He didn't approach, but kept his hands in his pockets, his irises smoky quartz in the shade of the umbrella. "I wish you'd talk to _me_."

Kayo let her book fall closed; two weeks of enforced inactivity was beginning to drive her crazy, and the book had been the latest attempt to distract herself from the thoughts that she still hadn't sorted. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just...it's complicated."

"I know." He sat, not next to her but opposite her, something that brought a wave of both relief and heartbreak into Kayo's chest. "I can't imagine what must have happened to you both."

She flinched, and the book fell to smack against the concrete. Virgil leaned down to pick it up and placed it on the table. "It was horrible," she whispered.

"It might help to-"

Kayo picked up her book and stood. "I can't." Until the events of two weeks prior, she had been afraid of very little in her life, but now this gentle giant of a man with love and compassion in his eyes terrified her to the point of tears. "Please, Virgil, just-not yet." She took two quick steps toward him and pressed her lips to his cheek. "I'm sorry."

She fled the lanai, leaving a confused and hurting man in her wake.

Down in the hangar, Scott sat in the command chair of Thunderbird One, staring unseeing at the console before him. They'd managed to retrieve both 'One and 'Shadow without incident, which further underlined the otherworldliness of what had transpired with the Hood. Neither craft had been tampered with, but he and Brains had gone over both vehicles with a proverbial fine toothed comb just to make certain. That activity had been a welcome respite from the circular thought pattern that assaulted him at every waking moment, and woke him in a cold sweat when he attempted sleep.

Now it was complete, and under the pretense of some mindless piece of maintenance, he'd locked himself into the cockpit, away from the questioning, compassionate gazes of his family. Virgil, he knew, had attempted communication with Kayo, but so far, it appeared he'd been unsuccessful. The family was beginning to disintegrate, and Scott couldn't help but wonder if that had been the underlying purpose of the Hood's reprehensible actions.

He lay his head back against the quilted leather surface of the chair and wearily closed his eyes. He almost wished for a rescue, something to take his mind off everything and bring them all together again.

The non-emergency comm beeped, and he reached out to tap the access button. "Thunderbird One," he said. "Hi, John. What's up?"

The ghostly form of his younger brother shimmered into view above the console. "We need to talk, Scott."

The pilot was shaking his head even before the sentence was over. "I don't _want_ to, Johnny."

"You _have_ to."

"No, I don't, and I'd appreciate it if everyone stopped telling me what it is that I _need_ to do."

John crossed his arms over his chest, which looked a little strange in zero-g. " _Someone_ has to," he gritted. "You can't keep whatever happened bottled up."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, because that's _exactly_ what I plan to do." He leaned forward, fingers hovering over the 'disconnect' key. "Now is there something you wanted, or can I get back to trying to sort out what's left of my mental stability?"

The sea green eyes remained calm, unfazed. "I won't tell anyone. Not even Grandma. Just _talk_ to me, Scotty."

One of the qualities of the Tracy men was their persistence, even if each of them had it in varying degrees. Right now, John's version of it was getting on Scott's last nerve, and he nearly followed through with the disconnect. However, something stopped his hand, and after a moment, he let it fall against his jean-clad knee. He leaned back again, considering his brother's open expression.

"You won't tell a soul," Scott said, more of a warning than a question.

"Not if you don't want me to." He spread his hands wide. "I'm the one everyone talks to all day every day." He shrugged. "I'm here. I'm listening. It's what I'm good at."

Scott cracked a smile at his would-be armchair therapist. "International Rescue, I have a situation."

John raised an eyebrow. "And what is your situation?"

Scott leaned forward, elbows on knees, and rubbed his hands over his face. "The Hood forced me to have sex with Kayo so he could put our genetic material in a surrogate and make himself a baby."

There was silence for several seconds, and Scott opened one eye. "John? You still there?"

John's face was so still that Scott wondered if the comm relay had frozen up. Then the sea green eyes blinked. "You...wanna tell me that again? I don't think I heard-"

"John. Listen carefully." He dropped his head into his hands, then took a deep breath and addressed his brother. "The Hood captured us."

"Right, I got that."

"He split us up. He drugged me senseless and stashed me in a room, while he locked Kayo up in a cell. You with me so far?"

"Okay."

Another deep breath got him through the next bit. "Apparently he had some doctor harvest some of Kayo's eggs."

A cough spluttered from John. "Bullshit," he wheezed, but Scott cut him to silence.

"Just shut up for a minute, okay?" He took another deep breath, hoping he could spit out the rest without losing his breakfast. "The next thing I know, Kayo is-is on top of me, and she and I-and-" His throat closed up, and he coughed, trying to push the words out. "John, I swear, I didn't know how to stop it, I would if I could have, but Kayo…" Tears squeezed out of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. "She was so kind. There she was, scared out of her mind, and _she_ was the one who kept telling _me_ it was going to be all right."

The silence stretched out again. "Scott, are you sure...are you _absolutely sure_ that's what happened?"

Rage welled in Scott, and he let John have it with both barrels. " _Yes, I'm sure_. I screwed her brains out while the Hood was watching, then he strapped her down and scraped what was left out of her and put it in a damn test tube."

" _Scott-!"_

"No, you asked for it," the pilot blurted. "So there it is. Happy now?"

John stared at him for a long moment, then palmed his own tears away. "Why?" was all he could say.

Scott threw his hands up. "Like I said: He wants a baby. He can't have one of his own, so he got us to be his stand-ins."

"That's perverted. Also a huge long shot," John added. "Sperm is only viable for a very short time, and unless he has access to a cryogenic facility, eggs aren't very hardy either."

"Yeah, well, this is the Hood we're talking about, so-" Scott shrugged, letting his brother fill in the blanks.

John looked down, most likely studying the Earth as it rolled past his shoes. "How's Kayo?"

Scott looked away. "I dunno; I haven't had much time to talk to her since we've been home."

His brother skewered him expertly. "You've been avoiding her, you mean."

"Well can you blame me, Johnny? How do you talk to someone about something like this?" Scott shook his head. "I've been trying to think of how to approach her, but I'm at a loss. I don't want to hurt her more by bringing it up-but you're right. We can't keep this locked up, or it'll eat us. It's already starting to; everyone is walking around on eggshells and no one's saying anything."

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

Scott didn't answer for a long moment. "Where's she at now?"

John consulted the commsphere, zeroing in on Kayo's locator that was, like her brothers', embedded in the skin of her right hand. "She's on the south beach."

"Where's Virgil?"

"He's in the house. I'd say if you're going to do this, now is the time."

"All right." He stood up and heaved a long sigh. "I won't say 'thank you', but-"

John smiled sadly. "It's okay. I'm here if you need me. Thunderbird Five out."

The sand was warm under Kayo's feet, and she sank into it with a grateful sigh. The wind was strong on this side of the island, and the waves rolled in one after another, tipped with white, to crash like thunder on the beach. The noise was enough to drown out her thoughts, and she closed her eyes to immerse herself in the sensation of being very, very small.

 _Tiny. Infinitesimal. Insignificant._ No great loss if she were to walk out onto the waves and let one of them sweep her away out past the reef, deep into the warm, enveloping aqua waters. Gordon loved the sea; surely it would welcome her as much as it did him. She dropped her book into the sand, the words forgotten. She'd just go for a little while, letting the water wash her clean of this filthy, gnawing pain, and then she'd come home to Virgil and love him forever.

The water was around her ankles, and still she kept walking. It was around her knees, enveloping her thighs, now embracing her waist like a sturdy pair of muscled arms, holding her safe. Then a wave fell on top of her, and she lost her footing in the swirling sand. _Finally_ , she thought. Soon it would all be over, and she could rest.

Something hard jolted her from her peaceful sea bed; a thin shrill of noise sounded over the bone-deep thrum of the breakers. Then she was in air, and it made her cough and choke and give up the calming tides that had begun to flow through her. She found herself on all fours in the sand, hair hanging in her face as she retched stinging salt through her raw throat and nose.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded a voice, and she looked up through bleary eyes to see Scott, his own eyes wild and his breath coming in heaving gasps.

There was no good answer, and she clawed her hair out of her face, thumping to a sitting position on the warm sand. "I can't do this, Scott," she sobbed.

She didn't elaborate as to what 'this' entailed, but Scott had a feeling he knew what she meant, because he'd admitted as much to John. "I know," he heard himself say over the noise of the wind and water. "Neither can I-but damnit Kayo, we _can't_ let him win."

"And you don't think he already _has_?" Kayo wiped her eyes on her shirt. "He got what he wanted from us. He left us wrecked on the rocks and now we're of no use to anyone."

Scott knelt before her and tipped her head up so she was looking right into his face. "He may have left us there, but we don't have to _stay_ there," he insisted. "We know how this rescue goes. Slow and steady, with plenty of support."

She blanched, her olive skin taking on a sickly cast. "I can't face Virgil," she murmured, tears beginning afresh. "I'll lose him, then he'll come after you and I'll lose you too."

"This wasn't your fault," Scott reminded her. "We did what we had to do, and we made it out alive."

She looked down at the sand between her knees. "Sometimes I wish we hadn't," she confessed. "They'd mourn us and move on, but at least they wouldn't know."

Scott sighed, hearing the echo of his own darkest thoughts in her words. "I think they'd have found out eventually-especially if his sick little plan worked. It wouldn't be like the Hood to just walk away and never put his last digs into Jeff Tracy's family."

Kayo stiffened and closed her eyes; hidden depths, indeed. "I hadn't thought about that." Then her eyes flew open and she grabbed Scott's arm. "What am I saying- _he doesn't need to wait_ ," she breathed. "He could do that _now_."

"Exactly," Scott gritted. "We need to tell them before he does." He shuddered. "I don't even want to think about them hearing it from him."

Kayo shivered, suddenly cold though her hair and clothes were nearly dry in the hot sun. "I'm going to lose him, aren't I?" She glanced up at her eldest brother and partner in pain. "I don't want to lose him, Scott."

The pilot got to his feet and held out his hand so she could pull herself up. "I know. And I won't lie; this is going to be hard for everyone." He lifted her chin once more. "One thing's for sure though: the Hood made a huge mistake when he messed with us." He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her along the beach back toward the villa. "Come on. We have a family to put back together."


	3. Breaking and Mending

_**AN: Not gonna lie, this was tough.**_

 **Warning: Fisticuffs. Little bit of language at the end.**

 **Breaking and Mending**

 _Sooner or later, for better or worse, the truth must be told._

When they reached the lanai, Kayo discovered that her feet would carry her no further.

"I can't," she stated flatly.

Scott sighed. "You know we have to."

Kayo crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "Yes." She chewed her lip, thinking. "Grandma. Tonight. I'll meet you at her door-nine o'clock."

"All right." He moved to ensure that she looked up into his eyes. "After that, we tell Virgil."

"What does it say that I'd rather face the Hood again than Virgil?" she mused. "You're right. I can't keep him in the dark. What do you want to do if…" Her words trailed away, but she took a breath and started again. "I don't want to jeopardize the team. If we can't keep it together professionally, I'll go."

" _No,"_ Scott breathed, horror lapping at the edge of his voice. "That's what the Hood wants, to disassemble iR from the inside. He _wants_ you to go, or me or Virgil. Then he'll sit back and watch to see if Gordy and Al choose sides, or if they'll try to keep going with John, or-I don't know. I don't want to think about it."

Kayo turned to study the waves that had almost claimed her. "You can bet the Hood's thought about all the ways this could pull us apart," she mused darkly. "My uncle has hidden depths we've never even considered. We can't underestimate him."

"Kay," Scott ventured, his hand hovering beside her arm, but not touching. "I know we told you this before, but-we _don't,_ and _will never_ , blame you or your dad for something you can't help. Both of you have never been anything but loyal to this family."

"Family," Kayo repeated. "If he's successful, if this hare-brained scheme actually works and he gets what he wants-" She turned back to Scott, pleading in her olivine eyes. "We have to rescue that child."

Scott held up a hand. "I know. I've been thinking about that, too. We have a lot of questions we need to work through, but first we need to focus on keeping our family together. Nine o'clock at Grandma's."

"Right. See you then."

They both slipped away to their respective corners, there to spend a restless few hours while the house lay heavily silent around them.

It was in the middle of this oppressive quiet that Gordon was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling when Alan knocked on his door. "Yeah," Gordon called, and the door cracked open.

"Gordy? Can I talk to you?"

The aquanaut sat up and pulled his earphones out; he'd intended to listen to something but his thoughts had taken over and he'd never gotten around to starting the music. "What's up, little bro?"

Alan entered on stocking feet and closed the door quietly, then crossed the room to sink down on the end of Gordon's bed. "What's going on with everyone?" he asked. "Ever since Scott and Kayo got home, everyone's been acting weird."

Gordon sighed. "Hell if I know. You know that they escaped from the Hood, right?"

Alan nodded. "Yeah, that's just-" He shuddered. "I mean, if that had happened to me, I guess I'd be acting weird too. Maybe that's it."

"You don't sound too convinced," Gordon pointed out, one honey-blond eyebrow quirking upwards.

"I'm not." Alan looked at the floor, at the ocean outside the window, anywhere except the amber eyes of his older brother. "Getting captured is bad enough, but I just have this feeling something else happened. Something _really_ bad."

"Did you ask either of them?"

"No. I was going to ask Kayo, but when I caught up with her, Virg was trying to talk to her." The teen sighed. "They both looked so sad, and then Kayo said something and kissed him on the cheek, and practically ran away. Virgil looked like he was gonna cry."

Gordon's frown deepened. Their middle brother was known for being the sensitive one in the family, but actual tears were a worrying sign from the stalwart pilot. "Well, he loves her. I guess whatever happened spooked her good, and he's just hurting for her."

"Wouldn't that just make them want to be around each other, though?" Alan shook his head. "When bad things have happened to both of them before, we couldn't pry them apart with a crowbar. Something's...different about this."

"I haven't been able to talk to Scott either." Gordon, too, looked away from his brother and cast his gaze out over the calm blue water. "I hit John up yesterday but he wouldn't spill anything useful."

"Maybe he didn't know either."

Gordon gave Alan a _look_. "Dude, this is _John_ we're talking about. Everyone talks to him; he knows all the family dirt."

"True." Alan sighed. "So, like, what do we do?"

"You know how when you're on a roller coaster, and there's that first dip after you get pulled to the top?" The aquanaut shrugged. "I think we're heading for the bottom of the hill," he posited.

"You mean, it's all gonna come crashing down soon." Alan groaned. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate roller coasters?"

"Al, you fly an honest to goodness rocket on a regular basis. How is it possible that you hate roller coasters?"

Alan returned Gordon's _look_. "I don't mind pulling G's when it's for a good reason."

Gordon threw a pillow at his kid brother. "Weirdo. Are you sure we're related?"

"We might wish we weren't, after we get to the bottom of that hill." Alan pulled the pillow off his face and hugged it, suddenly looking much younger than his seventeen years. "What's going to happen to us?"

The honey-blond reached out to pull Alan closer, and leaned forward to press his forehead against that of the platinum-blond. "Nothing's gonna happen to us, Allie. We're a family. No matter what happens, we're still a family."

"Kayo too?"

"Yeah. Kayo too."

Ruth Tracy was jotting a few notes in her journal when the knock came. She raised her head to glance at the clock, noting with a frown that it was nine on the dot; her family often came to consult with her, but rarely were they so punctual. This spoke of A Meeting, and a part of her was relieved. Her family was under threat; that much she knew, but maybe now she'd be able to see the whole of what she'd only been able to glimpse in outline. She capped her pen and closed her book, then slid it to the side of the table and placed her Bible on top, ready for her personal reading and notes in the morning. "Come in," she called, lowering the volume of the already-soft music playing in the room with a swipe of her fingertip on her tablet.

The door opened slowly to admit first Kayo, then Scott. He shut the door quietly, then both crossed the room to settle on the low chaise. Ruth suppressed a smile; Scott's knees were nearly in his ears, so she wasn't surprised when he shifted to sit in the chair opposite her and left the chaise to Kayo.

"Sorry to bother you so late, Grandma," Scott began, "but we need your advice about something." Scott stopped and glanced at Kayo, and Ruth's heart went out to her as it had when the kids had first gotten back to the island. The young woman looked miserable, huddled into a small bundle of arms wrapped around legs and chin on her knees. If Ruth was honest, Scott looked no better, with blue smudges under his eyes and his cheekbones just a bit too sharp.

"You two have been through the wringer," Ruth commented. "Maybe you should talk to someone with some letters after their name."

Kayo shook her head. "We'd rather keep this in the family-at least for now."

Ruth nodded. "If that's what you want, but just putting it out there. What's on your mind, kids?"

Scott hunched forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We need to talk about what happened when we were in the Hood's stronghold." He glanced at Kayo again, and she nodded her permission for Scott to continue. "He did some really terrible things to us."

"I figured as much," Ruth said softly. "What happened?"

"He stole some of my eggs," Kayo blurted. "He can't have children, and as his nearest blood relative, he decided to use my genetic material, as he called it."

"Oh sweetie." Ruth immediately went to Kayo and wrapped her arms around the young woman who had been her granddaughter in name for more than a decade. "I'm so sorry." Then a spasm of horror crossed Ruth's lined features, and she held Kayo at arm's length for a moment. "You're not-"

"No," Kayo whispered. "I'm not carrying his child; he has a surrogate." She raised tear-filled eyes to Ruth's. "There's more."

Scott took a deep breath, drawing his grandmother's gaze. "I was drugged," he explained. "Kayo and I were forced to land, then the Hood's men separated us. He took me into a hospital room, and locked Kayo in a cell. I was out of it for a while, but when I woke up, Kayo was with me."

Ruth didn't know what to say, so she just nodded for him to continue while she kept her arm around Kayo's shoulders.

Scott took another breath, twisting his hands together in a tight mass of white-knuckled fingers. "He forced Kayo and I to have sex," he said. When the words were finally out, they seemed to lay in the air like a poisonous miasma, and Kayo shuddered.

With her grandson's admission, Ruth's mind went numb, but one question finally floated to the surface. "Why?"

"Like Kayo said, he wants a child, and for some reason can't have one of his own." Scott studied the teak boards between his shoes. "He took genetic material from both of us in hopes of conceiving a child in vitro, then transferring any surviving embryos to a surrogate." He shrugged. "It's a long shot, but it just might work."

Ruth shook her head in disbelief. Jeff's fortune had brought about much good, but there was always the possibility that the darker side of wealth would rear its ugly head. Blackmail, kidnapping, and stalking were all very real parts of being a billionaire family, and they had all learned to take steps to avoid being caught. Even after Jeff moved them to the island, the threat was always there, looming in the background. That threat had suddenly moved a lot closer in the last two minutes, and now it seemed as if there was a monster in the room breathing cinders down their necks.

"Now, Scotty, we're all adults here, and we all know he could have gotten what he wanted from you without making you two get together," she said, low. "Did he-" She exhaled a shaky breath, words stolen from her by horror. "Did he film you two?"

"He said he didn't." Scott unclenched his hands and raked them through his hair. "I know we have no reason to believe him, but I don't know how we'd find out if he was lying, or how we'd get our hands on the recording."

The three of them sat silent for a moment, contemplating the well of pain that the Hood's actions had torn open in their midst. Finally, Ruth cleared her throat and gestured Scott to move his chair closer.

"All right. Now, I want you two to listen carefully. As of this moment, we are putting what was done behind us. It's _done_. We can't go back. Do you understand?" She waited until they both nodded, then continued. "What we need to do now is move forward. We need to find how to live with this." She turned to Kayo. "You haven't told Virgil yet?"

"No," Kayo murmured. "He knows that something happened, but I haven't been able to tell him exactly what."

Ruth looked at Scott. "I'm pretty sure you haven't talked with Virgil either."

"No. John knows, though. I told him earlier today, but he assured me he wouldn't say anything until Kayo and I did." He shot an apologetic glance at Kayo. "I'm sorry."

Kayo waved him off, then accepted the Kleenex Ruth held out and blotted away her tears. "It's all right," she said thickly. "John knows better than to gossip."

"Well, I think Virgil's been in the dark long enough," Ruth said gently, her heart sinking as she watched both of her companions' faces turn pale. "All three of you look like the walking wounded, and it's time to stop."

"What about Gordon and Alan?" asked Kayo.

"Virgil first," Ruth said firmly. "Then it'll be time to call a meeting. If our prior dealings with the Hood are any indicator, we'll need to come up with a plan. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes," Kayo replied.

"Yes," echoed Scott. A faint smile flitted over his face. "Are you sure you don't want to take over as Field Commander, Grandma? You're doing a pretty good job."

She patted his hand. "I appreciate the compliment, but your father gave you that job because you were made for it." She reached out to touch his cheek, then covered Kayo's hands with her free one. "You two are very, _very_ good at what you do. Remember that. You _save_ people. You _help_ people. It's not your fault that the Hood has let his bitterness against your father spill over onto you."

"What _did_ happen between them, Grandma?" Kayo asked. "Why _does_ he hate our family so much, that he would go to this extreme?"

Ruth shook her head. "That's a story for another time. Right now, it's up to us to keep our family together. Scotty, I want you to go to your room and stay there until I tell you." She touched the comm button on her nightstand. "Virgil, sweetheart, would you please come see me? Kayo's here. We need to talk."

"I'll be right up, Grandma," came the reply.

Scott was on his feet and moving toward the door before Virgil disconnected. "Thanks, Grandma," he murmured, then turned to Kayo. "Tawny," he began, but Ruth waved him out.

"Go on, Scott," Kayo assured him. "We'll be okay."

With one last look at both of them, Scott turned and left. His door closed behind him just as Virgil gained the landing, and Scott slid down to sit with his back against the wood, knees no longer able to hold him.

Virgil's knock was soft, and Kayo was expecting it, but it still made her jump slightly. Ruth held her all the tighter, rubbing the younger woman's arm in an attempt to comfort. "Come in," Ruth called, and smiled gently up at her hulking middle grandson. "Hello, sweetheart."

"Hi." He slid into the chair Scott had vacated not thirty seconds before, but if he noticed the seat was warm, he didn't mention it. His eyes were only for the young woman sitting next to Ruth, and he, too, was twisting his fingers together-though Ruth had a feeling he was trying to keep from reaching out for Kayo. "Hey, angel," he said, perching on the edge of the chair. "Are you okay?"

Kayo's eyes shuttered closed, and fresh tears began to leak from under her lashes. "I'm not," she admitted.

Ruth gave her one last squeeze and loosened her grip, taking Kayo's hands in both of hers. "We have something to tell you, Virgil," the matriarch began. "I want your promise that you'll listen and not say anything until we're finished. Okay?"

Virgil nodded. "Okay."

"Good." His grandmother patted Kayo's hand. "Now. First things first. What happened to you and Scott, Kayo?"

"We were en route to a call, but it was a fake," she began, her voice hollow. "It was a ruse by the Hood to lure us to one of his strongholds. I don't know where it was exactly; it was a heavily wooded area."

"Yekaterinburg," Virgil supplied, then caught himself and shot an apologetic look at his grandmother. "In the Ural Mountains. That's where John found your signal."

"Oh." Kayo shook her head. "With everything that happened, it's...all sort of a blur."

Virgil shrugged. "Understandable. God alone knows what that bastard gave you."

"I wasn't drugged-at least, not as heavily as Scott was," Kayo continued. "I had a cup of water, and I thought it was all right, but it might have been tampered with."

"Let's not get too far off the track," Ruth reminded her. "What happened next, sweetie?" she prodded gently.

"The Hood had some sort of pet doctor on staff," Kayo went on. "I was forced to strip from the waist down, and the doctor proceeded to remove some of my eggs."

Virgil's face went absolutely still. "What?"

"He actually numbed me before he did it; not a mercy I'd expect from someone like the Hood." Kayo let out a slow breath. "The doctor stuck a needle in my left ovary and harvested some eggs. It didn't hurt, but-I felt violated all the same."

"I'm sure," Virgil managed, his voice thick. "Are you okay now?"

"Physically, yes," she reassured him. "I don't think there's any lasting damage."

"That's all I care about," Virgil replied, and would have moved to wrap her in his arms, but his grandmother's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Wait just a minute," Ruth cautioned. "That's not the end of the story."

Virgil sat back heavily, confusion written on his handsome features. "You mean, what happened to Scott." He glanced from matriarch to lover. "He seems to be okay...do you know what they did to him?"

Kayo nodded. "I was finally allowed to see him. He was all right, but he was completely out of it. I don't know what the Hood gave him, but it was enough to put him in a twilight state. He kept fading in and out, but the Hood wanted him awake, so I had to smack him around a little to get him to cooperate."

The briefest of smiles ghosted across Virgil's face at the mental picture, but then it was gone. "What was the point of all this, if the Hood didn't intend to kill you?" he wondered.

"He wants a child," Kayo replied. "He can't have one, although I don't know why. Since I'm a blood relative, he thought he could at least have a child with some of his own DNA."

Virgil went still again, only this time it was a deadly stillness instead of an expectant one. "I don't think I understand."

"He made Scott and I…he made us…" She lowered her head into her hands, quivering with tension and despair. "When it was over, they scraped what was left out of me and took it off to some facility or other. If the Hood gets viable embryos, he'll put them in a surrogate." She was weeping now, her lithe body shaking with sobs. "Virgil, I'm so sorry. Scott didn't mean to do anything; he barely knew what was happening."

At her words, Virgil covered his face with one calloused hand and just sat for a span of several heartbeats. Finally, he moved his hand down to cover his mouth, and stared unseeing at the floorboards between his grandmother's boots. In a few moments, he dropped his hand and tried several times to say something, but the words wouldn't come.

"This is a lot to deal with," Ruth ventured into the taut silence. "Take as long as you need to process."

"I know _exactly_ what happened," Virgil spat. "I don't need to 'process' it." His amber eyes widened as Kayo shrank back, and he gentled his voice for his next words. "I'm sorry. Maybe I do need a minute." He got to his feet and wandered toward the windows, where the moon danced on the waves outside.

"I can let you two have a few minutes alone if you need," Ruth offered, but wasn't surprised when both Virgil and Kayo shook their heads in wordless protest. After a few more minutes, Virgil heaved a sigh and walked back over to where Kayo sat.

"Does Scott know what happened?" He gave a mirthless snort. "That's a dumb question; of _course_ he does."

Ruth shook her head. "Not necessarily. I've known plenty of people who went to a party and ended up doing things they don't remember-or _wouldn't_ have done, if they were thinking straight. I'd say this was much like that for your brother."

At the words ' _your brother,'_ both Kayo and Virgil recoiled as if she'd struck them. Ruth knew what they were thinking because she was thinking it too: This was their leader, their _big brother_ who had been a party to this act. Even if he _had_ been up to his ears in mind-altering substances, it still felt like a betrayal. The anger simmering in the back of Ruth's mind began to boil, and she knew without a doubt that if the Hood had been standing before her at that moment, she'd have gladly broken his neck and tossed his lifeless body into the sea outside her window.

"Bad things happen," Ruth continued, deliberately gentling her voice despite the hot fury in her veins. "If they didn't, there'd be no need for what we do. It's our job to help put the pieces back together so life can continue moving forward. True, the pieces won't fit the same way as before, but we can find a new 'normal' and keep going."

"Normal." Virgil passed a slow hand through his hair, destroying his carefully constructed coif. "I don't even know what that is." He glanced up at Kayo, who was still sitting with her face buried in Grandma's shoulder. "I don't even know what to _do_ with this."

Ruth motioned Virgil closer much like she had done with Scott, then took his hands and placed them gently atop Kayo's. "I'll tell you kids something I wish someone had told me when I'd first married your grandpa: When you two are facing a problem-whether it's between you or it's with one of your children, or anything else-you need to remember that It's you two versus the _problem_ , _not_ you two versus _each other_. I'll extend that to say that in some respects, it's _all of us_ against the problem, not against each other."

"That's his real goal," Kayo said softly, straightening to face Virgil. "He's always wanted to tear us apart." For the first time since Kayo and Scott returned to the island, Ruth saw determination began to edge out the sadness in the younger woman's face. "I'll be damned if I'll let that happen. This is _my family_."

As smoothly as if they'd choreographed it, Ruth got to her feet just at the moment Virgil thumped to his knees and slipped his arms around Kayo, holding her as if he'd never let her go. After a brief moment of hesitation, Kayo responded, melting into the strong embrace.

Ruth slipped out of the room on quiet soles and moved down the hallway to knock on Scott's door. "Scotty," she called. "May I come in?"

In answer, something rustled against the door and it swung open to reveal Jeff's oldest son, a lifetime of troubles weighing on his broad shoulders. "How'd it go?" he asked quietly.

"Baby steps, but they're in the right direction." Ruth regarded him with eyes as blue as his own. "You need to tell your side."

Scott paled. "I don't know if I _can_ , Grandma."

"Honey, you've _got_ to." She raised a hand to his cheek. "You kids _depend_ on each other. This could mean your _lives_. I don't want to lose you or Virgil if one of you hesitated the barest second over this." Her hand slipped to his shoulder and she shook him gently for emphasis. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

He nodded. "I do."

"All right then." Ruth took his hand and led him from the room. "You boys love each other. Don't forget that." She knocked once on her door, then pushed it open, tugging Scott through the door behind her.

For a moment, no one moved. Then Virgil was on his feet, his expression unreadable as he moved toward his older brother. Scott stood like a soldier before a firing squad as Virgil's boots thumped against the boards.

As he kept advancing, Ruth opened her mouth to speak, but Scott gave her a quick shove to the side. Kayo's voice pierced the heavy silence, her sharp " _No!"_ like breaking glass against the walls, but it was a millisecond too late. Virgil lunged, the full force of his arm behind a right hook that sent Scott sprawling to the floor.

The harsh breathing of the two young men was the only sound in the room until Scott gave a low groan and sat up, dabbing at his split lip. "I feel like I deserved that," he murmured.

"You didn't," Virgil retorted, his voice tight. "I'm sorry."

"Please, don't be." Scott put the heels of his hands against his eyes and leaned back against the door. "This is all kinds of fucked up, and I have no idea what to do."

"Pounding each other into the floor won't solve anything," Ruth barked, moving in between her grandsons. She raised her face to Virgil, her eyes flashing blue fire. "Are you done?"

Though nearly a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than his grandmother, Virgil relaxed his frame and let his hands fall open. "Yeah." He glanced over his shoulder at Kayo, who had shot to her feet the instant she'd seen him start to move. "I'm sorry."

She gave him a wordless nod, tension seeming to slip from her body as well.

Virgil turned back to Scott, holding out a hand to help his brother up. "You can take a shot at me, I guess."

"No. There's been enough pain in this house lately. I'm not in any hurry to add more." Once on his feet, Scott looked his brother straight in the eye. "I'm sorry, Virg. I don't know what else to say." He broke their gaze to study Virgil's scarred boot tops. "You and Kayo are meant for each other. You know I would never get between you." He shrugged. "It's all I can offer, V. I'm sorry."

In answer, Virgil drew Scott in and hugged him hard. "We're gonna get that son of a bitch," he growled. "I want you there right beside me when we do."

"Always, brother," Scott replied, his voice breaking. "Always."


	4. Tempest

_**AN: I must admit that I've let this story percolate quite a while, but it's continuing to roll out slowly. This is not an easy story to tell, but what makes it worthwhile is the bond these people have to each other. That in itself is the most satisfying piece of all. Thanks for coming along. Tiny bit of 2004 movieverse at the end, see if you can spot it!**_

 _ **TRIGGER WARNING: Infidelity, nightmares, firearms, murder (implied), suicide (implied)**_

 _ **Also: OoOoOo = scene change**_

 **The Madman's Heir, Ch. 4: Tempest**

 _When storms rage, all we can do is hold on._

Scott is tired-no, make that _exhausted_.

Despite everyone finally knowing the truth of what transpired in the Hood's rural stronghold- _that_ was a family meeting Scott didn't care to repeat in this or any other lifetime-he hasn't been sleeping well. He's almost glad for the back to back rescues; they should help him fall into bed unconscious before he hits the pillow. For once, he's actually looking forward to going to bed.

That's why it takes a few moments to register that there is someone already in his room when he arrives. And not just someone-a lithe, curving female form draped purposefully over his bed, long legs encased in black lace-top thigh highs, a scrap of black lace strung over full hips, and a black lace brassiere that barely holds luscious breasts in check. The room is alight with glimmering stars, candle flames flickering in the soft Pacific night stealing in through the open windows.

"Welcome home," purrs a familiar voice, and Scott turns from gaping at the setting to fix his gaze upon the speaker.

 _Kayo._

"What-" He swallows and tries again. "What are you doing here?"

She draws one foot against the opposite silken ankle. "Waiting for you," she replies.

The shock is beginning to wear off, and Scott is irritated to find that in its place, a slow burn has kindled itself below his belt. "Virgil," he blurts, trying to use his brother's name as both accusation and shield.

"Hmm." She rolls onto her belly, revealing the triangle of lace over her coccyx before the string disappears into the cleft of her curves. "Let's just say I've...had a change of heart."

This is impossible, unthinkable. Some latent chemical reaction has manifested itself in her, some bit of brainwashing finally come to the surface; those are the only explanations that make any sense as Scott's brain scrambles for a foothold. "You can't be serious."

Kayo rises gracefully, striding toward him like a panther, staring him, her prey, down with those luminous gold-green eyes. "Oh, but I _am_ ," she assures him. "Let me show you just how serious I am."

Then she's in his space, arms locked around his torso and sliding up his back, lips on his with smothering, crushing force, and there is no escape. His body betraying him with every heartbeat, Scott reaches up and slides his fingers into her hair, tugging her head back until her throat is bare to his kiss. _God, he wants her,_ like nothing he's ever wanted before, danger and desire singing in his blood until he can't think of anything else but making her his and his alone.

She feels it too, he knows, because she backs them up until they're tumbling down across his bed, her hands working at his buttons until the Oxford and the Levis are just a distant memory. He peels one flimsy strap off her shoulder, then the other, and her fingers flit down to undo the hooks so he can bury his face between her breasts. He slips one hand between them to dip into the slick warmth between her thighs, and she arches, gasping his name into the night.

A moment's adjustment, a split-second of hesitation, and he's deep inside her, moving and stretching and searching all of her, desiring nothing more than for her to burn him to the ground. " _Kayo,"_ he gasps into her mouth, against her neck, into her hair. "Oh, Kayo."

Below him, she writhes and bucks, calling his name with such exquisite need that he can't help but fall headlong right after her. The air smells of sweat and sex and the ocean, and they're both panting like they've run a marathon as the stars fade from Scott's vision. He wonders if the water would boil around them if they plunged into the sea beyond his window.

He never gets to test this theory, because it's at this moment that something grabs him roughly from behind, pulling him off her. He has a split second view of her face contorted in horror before he whirls to face six feet two inches and two hundred twenty pounds of killing force.

Stars burst in Scott's vision again-only this time, it's from the shock of Virgil's fist meeting his solar plexus. Then a right to the jaw, and a left, and Scott is laying in a heap, bleeding freely onto the boards from nose and mouth.

"Virgil," he croaks, choking on his own blood. "Let me-"

The words die away as Virgil, eyes aflame with hot amber light, reaches behind him and draws Scott's old service pistol from the waistband of his jeans. He cocks it, then reaches down to capture Scott's jaw in an iron grip, and stuffs the barrel into Scott's mouth.

There are no tears in Virgil's eyes as he pulls the trigger.

Scott jolts awake, his head on fire and his chest slick with sweat. His eyes fly open, and in a moment he realizes he's looking at a close-up view of the teak floorboards.

More thoughts come: He's fallen out of bed-something he hasn't done since he was ten, sleeping above John in one set of bunk beds in their Kansas farmhouse. Gordon had woken up when he'd heard Scott crash painfully to the floor, his small panicked voice waking Virgil-

Virgil.

Kayo. Candles. Lace. Heat. _Oh, God._

Virgil. Pain. Blood. The taste of metal. And then-

Alone, Scott curls into a shuddering ball on the floor, trying to forget the feeling of cold steel jammed against the roof of his mouth.

OoOoOoOo

Crying.

Someone's crying.

Kayo frowns, narrowing her eyes as if that would help her ears pinpoint the direction the cries are coming from. The faceless corridors are made of something shiny and white, and they stretch away for endless yards in this optical illusion of a building.

It's a woman-no, a child. A young child, keening and sobbing, too young for words-except one.

" _Mama,"_ it wails. "Mama!"

The word cuts her to the bone, and she sags against the wall, slapping her hands over her ears. "It's not real," she mutters through clenched teeth. "It's not real. This is a trick." The thought gives iron to her spine and lights fire in her veins, and she straightens to shout at the ceiling. "You hear me?" she screams. " _This is a lie!"_

"Mama," the child sobs. "Mama."

It's too much, and something tears loose in her chest as tears flood her eyes. "I'm coming, baby," she calls. "Mama's coming."

"Kayo," someone shouts. Male, baritone, insistent. "Kayo!"

She turns to find Virgil standing there, fully geared, resplendent in blue and green, solid and sure. He holds out a hand to her, but doesn't speak. His eyes say everything.

 _Choose._

"No," she whispers. "Please, I have to-"

"Mama!" The voice is getting fainter, as if someone is taking the child away. Soon it will be gone, her chance will be lost, and surely he can't expect her to just ignore-

" _Kayo,"_ he barks.

She turns and runs from him.

"Kayo!"

She lashes out with all she has, feet and elbows and fists. "Let go," she snarls. "I swear I'll-"

"Kayo, stop!" The hands are strong but gentle, pushing against her but not hurting her, and she opens her eyes to see Virgil kneeling beside her. Moonlight paints his skin with silver, casting the muscle along his shoulders and arms in deep shadow. "Lights at quarter," he calls, and the barest amount of light dawns from the hidden fixtures in the walls. Kayo looks up through tears to see Virgil looking at _her_ with worry on his face and sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." She palms her tears away. "Sorry for waking you. Just a bad dream."

He nods, but the worry remains. "Which one was it?" he asks softly.

She looks down at where her hands clutch the blanket. "The crying baby. Hallways. You."

He nods again, then raises his hands to gently cup her face. "You know I'd never ask you to choose."

"I know." She lets him draw her against his chest, skin to skin. "I just want it to stop."

He rubs her arm, adjusting so her head tucks under his chin. "It will, angel." He kisses the top of her head. "It will."

OoOoOoOo

"Hey!"

The ecstatic shout makes Scott turn around, and he grins at the source of the voice. Barely four feet tall, raven-haired and eyes the color of a summer's day, the small form gathers itself for a jump and lands squarely in his outstretched arms. Small hands press his cheeks, arms thread around his neck and squeeze tight, legs wrap around his waist and cling like a young sloth. Rich giggles assault his ears, and he sighs as his heart melts all over again.

The voice in his ear still retains its childish lisp. "I missed you."

Scott hugs back, feeling tears prick the corner of his eyes. "I missed you, too."

"I won't ever go away," the voice reassures him, with all the determination a young heart can muster.

For the first few moments upon waking, Scott can still feel the smile on his face. As reality descends, the smile fades. He tightens his grip on his pillow, trying to fool himself that his arms aren't achingly empty.

OoOoOoOoOo

Kayo knows what pain is. She even knows what _severe_ pain is like, having experienced it many times during her work with International Rescue. However, this pain is beyond anything she's ever imagined, and it pushes a scream out of her that sends Virgil flying out of the room. "Someone get in here!" he bellows.

He returns in just a moment, eyes aflame with anger and frustration. He grabs her hands and holds them tight, submitting to the barest wince as she squeezes his fingers. "That'll put the fear of God in them," he grits.

She manages a smile, but another contraction sends her spiraling into a nauseating haze, and she clutches at his hands for dear life. "Oh God oh God oh God," she chants. "I can't do this, Virgil."

He clambers up to sit with his chest against her back, his legs beside hers. His arms are wrapped around her, holding her safe as she rides the wave of agony. "I've got you," he murmurs in her ear. "Hold on to me."

Another contraction leaves her exhausted, and she sags against him, panting. He wipes the sweat away with a cool cloth and kneads her taut neck and shoulders. "I have…" She swallows against her ragged, dry throat. "I have to push." Another contraction spins her away from reality and dumps her on what feels like the rocky side of Tracy Island. Everything hurts.

His voice is in her ear again. "Kayo? Come on, angel, don't give up on me now."

She's back in the bed with his body against hers, and she can feel his strength pouring into her. She _can_ do this. The innate instinct on when to push a new life from its safe moorings into the wide sea of the outer world is imprinted upon her brain and her muscles, and with the next contraction, she gives it full rein.

Somehow-she's not entirely sure how, but it doesn't matter-Virgil has moved from behind her to before her, and she pushes her child into his waiting hands. The look on his face is indescribable as the messy, bloody infant slips from her womb into his arms, and she wishes she could hold that moment to her forever. He is so strong, so gallant, and she falls hopelessly in love with him all over again as he cradles the squalling bundle to his broad chest.

"Oh, oh, oh," he croons. "Oh, Daddy's here." He looks up at her, eyes swimming with tears. " _You're amazing,"_ he breathes.

All she can do is sob.

Arms wrap around her, holding her safe. "Shhh," says a voice. "Shhhh."

Slowly, Kayo swims up to the surface of awareness. Her throat is raw, her mouth open as if in a silent scream. Her cheeks are wet.

Some compulsion she cannot name makes her untangle one hand and press it against her abdomen. From navel to thigh, she is as flat as a washboard.

Once again, all she can do is sob.

OoOoOoOo

 _Never give up at any cost._ It was something his father had said very early on when they formed International Rescue, and it became sort of the unofficial motto of the organization. Gordon joked once that someone should embroider it on a pillow for the living room, but thankfully no one took him seriously. Scott knows that if they never find Jeff, he's going to ensure that it's engraved on a memorial somewhere.

Right now, that phrase feels like it's engraved in stone already-and that stone is tied to Scott's ankles as he hangs underneath Thunderbird One, hovering beside a skyscraper that's belching black smoke and orange flames into the pristine blue sky. With a flick of his wrist, he brings TB1 as close as he dares, and reaches out for the small, sooty form just beyond his fingertips.

"You can do it," he shouts over the sound of the VTOL engines. "Just take my hand."

Bright blue eyes shine like topazes from that smudged face, so full of terror that there is no room for tears. At his words, however, one small hand unclamps from the side of the shattered window frame and tentatively reaches toward him.

He's still not close enough, and Scott gently shifts his weight so that he swings just a little. "On three," he shouts. "One, two, three!" He grabs the child's hand and pulls; battered sneakers leave the window frame. The eyes are full of trust.

It's at this moment that Scott realizes: There's something wrong with his hands. From elbows to fingertips, he's numb, and he can't feel the child's hand in his.

Or at least that must be what's wrong, because he tries to clamp his hand around the small arm-and he feels nothing.

Despair stabs him like a knife in his gut. He releases the grappling line and gives himself over to the whistle of the wind as it slips through his fingers.

Scott wakes to the sight of his arm, clad not in his uniform but a grey tee-shirt, stretched out toward the ceiling. His chest is tight and his head is pounding from lack of oxygen, and he draws in a great noisy gasp that has a fist pounding on the door.

"Scott?" Alan yelps. "You okay?" The door opens a fraction, then a little more, and then flings wide when the intruder sees the amount of distress on his eldest brother's face. "Oh God, Scotty." Gently, Alan takes Scott's arm and folds it back down to his side, then sits down on the bed. "Want me to stay?" he asks softly.

Scott nods, turning on his side away from Alan so his little brother can't see his tears.

OoOoOoOoOo

She's running.

They used to play in these jungles, when they first came to the island. The shining green leaves, the tough, gnarled trunks, the damp rocky caves-all perfect places to hide, a paradise playground for six youngsters on the loose. The house was amazing, but the jungle was their home.

Now, as she clutches the tiny bundle to her chest, Kayo prays that the jungle will welcome her once more, hiding her in its secret depths among the trees.

Behind her, the angry growl of off-road vehicles and the crashing of tires through underbrush keeps her tearing along the disused path as fast as her feet can carry her. Shouts and curses from the drivers reach her ears, giving her another burst of speed.

 _This is my home,_ she thinks, hurdling a massive bundle of tree roots. She'll be damned if someone beats her at a game of hide-and-seek through her own backyard.

There's a clearing up ahead, and then just beyond, the entrance to a service tunnel that leads back to the house. To the untrained observer, the native flora climbs a sheer rock wall, but Kayo knows it's a cleverly placed hologram to fool prying eyes. Holding her precious cargo secure, she makes for the clearing-and skids to a stop as an off-road vehicle blocks her way. The man sitting atop the vehicle is a wall of muscle, and his teeth glint white in his dark face.

"Gotcha, girlie," he sneers. "We'll just be takin' the little one, thank you very much."

If she were alone, Kayo could bring all of her training to bear on the mountain of leather, but a squeal of protest from the well-wrapped bundle stops her in her tracks. Unable to do anything but watch, Kayo remains motionless as the gloved hands fold around the child and neatly extricate it from her grip.

When Kayo wakes up, she finds Virgil sitting in the chair across the room, dressed in tee-shirt and sweats, drinking something from a steaming mug. There is a line between his brows, and she is really, really sick of seeing it there.

He sets the mug aside and looks at her for a long moment. "I think it's time to see someone about this."

She sighs and sits up, wrapping her hands around her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "Why do you say that?" She yawns; good grief, she's tired. "Where's my pillow?"

In answer, Virgil pulls a piece of cloth from the desk beside him; it looks as if it has been a battle standard for a frontline army. "Recognize this?" He holds it up. "This used to be your pillow, before you thought I was trying to steal it from you." He crosses to the bed and sits, taking her hands into his. "Honey, It's time to stop."

That evening, Kayo and Virgil are about to knock on Grandma's door when a voice from behind stops them.

"You can't stand it anymore, either?"

As one, they turn to see Scott in the hallway. He looks like hell, with his shirt hanging from his shoulders and his cheeks going hollow. Virgil looks from Scott to Kayo, his gut clenching at how her golden skin has turned dull and her eyes are muddy green.

"No," he says, the word flat. "If _I_ want off this merry go round, then I'm sure you do too."

When Grandma opens the door, she takes one look at the three grouped in the hallway, and stretches her arms wide as if to embrace them all at once. "It's about time," she murmurs. "I know someone who can help. Let's get them out here so we can get our lives back."


	5. Disclosure

**The Madman's Heir, chapter 5: Disclosure**

 _Uncovering the truth takes time-and patience._

Dr. Marie McKinley's credentials are, by any standard, impressive. Not only was she the valedictorian of Independence High School's Class of 1998, but she was Summa Cum Laude at Kansas State for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She went on to obtain her therapy license and her doctorate, and then promptly joined the Marines to offer her services to soldiers with both visible and invisible wounds. After nearly a quarter of a century of helping shattered people pick up the pieces, she retired to a private practice, and it's there where Ruth finally catches up with her.

It's her military service that sells Ruth on the idea of calling her old friend in, and the time they spend in conversation-in the middle of the night for Ruth, in order to catch Marie at her desk back in Kansas-is spent first catching up on the last few years. Then after all the small talk dwindles, Marie fixes Ruth with an umber gaze and crosses arms bedecked with gold bangles that chime softly against her deep brown skin.

"So," she ventures. "You mind telling me what this is all about?"

Ruth takes off her glasses and rubs the bridge of her nose. "I never could get anything past you," she chuckles. She replaces the glasses on her face and mirrors Marie's posture. "My grandkids are in trouble."

"Hmm. All of them?"

"No-well, it's affecting everyone, but just three in particular." She shakes her head. "The work my boys do, Marie-it's absolutely amazing, but sometimes it attracts the wrong kind of attention. There's one... _person_...who has..." Ruth sighs, searching for a word that encapsulates the utter hell that the Hood has wreaked on her family for years. "He's fixated on our family due to some bad blood between him and my son."

Marie has grabbed a pad and a pen and is already jotting notes as Ruth speaks. "Sort of guy who enjoys holding his grudges?"

"Exactly." Ruth shrugs. "I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that this... _ugliness_...has reared its head several times, not only with my son but now with his boys-and my son's ward, who's my granddaughter in everything but name."

"How old are the boys now?" Marie muses, pen flying across the page.

Ruth recounts the ages of her grandsons, fitting Kayo in between Virgil and Gordon. "Things were quiet when the kids were young, but now that they're grown and they're interfering with this person's business, he's focused his attention on them."

"How so?"

Ruth is silent a moment, unsure. The identities of the members of International Rescue are not exactly a secret, but they're nowhere in plain sight, either. The work Jeff began depends upon a tight set of protocols against invasion, both physical and electronic, and Brains is always working on ways to improve their security. Letting Marie in will set stringent vetting protocols in motion, and at the end, Ruth knows these efforts at bringing healing to her family may be in vain. Still, she decides, her grandchildren and the work they do are worth taking that chance and more.

"Like I said, the kids have been tangling with this joker off and on for the past few years. He's got more money than sense, and every time he gets caught, he manages to slither his way out of the law's reach. He'll quiet down for a while, then he'll pop up and make things miserable for us-except now, he's starting to play really dirty."

Marie arches an expertly drawn eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ruth takes a deep breath and plunges ahead. "About a month ago, this bastard did something so heinous that it almost took my family apart, and now it's tearing three of the strongest people I know from stem to stern. Will you help me?"

With this confession, Marie lays down her pen, and her holographic form regards Ruth in silence for a few heartbeats. "Ruthie," she begins, "I know this might seem apropos of nothing, but-are your grandsons part of International Rescue?"

If she suspects, there's no use hiding it; Marie had always been the sharpest tool in the shed. "Yes."

Marie nods slowly. "I thought so. When my granddaughter was a senior at KU, she was on Flight 800 out of New York to Paris a few years back, on her way to be an exchange student. When they lost two engines mid-way over the Atlantic, they called for help, and your boys came running." Marie smiles. "She recognized Scott; they went together for a while in high school."

Ruth smiles back. "I'd forgotten about that."

"My granddaughter made it to Paris, met a very nice French boy, and they're getting married in six weeks. Helping your boys out is the least I can do."

For the first time since Kayo and Scott touched down on the island, Ruth feels a tiny tendril of hope uncurl in her chest. "Thank you, Marie. Now, there's a few things I'll need to go over with you before you can visit the island," she begins, but Marie cuts her off with a snort of laughter.

"Island? Where in the world are you?"

The Tracy matriarch smiles. "I can't tell you that. You wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway, so you're just gonna have to come see for yourself."

Marie caps her pen with a note of finality. "Looks like this is going to be one hell of a housecall."

OoOoOoOoO

"Tracy Island to Thunderbird Five. John, sweetheart, it's Grandma."

John's holographic form pops into view above the comm unit on Grandma's night table. "Hi, Grandma," he replies, his smile warming his sea-glass gaze. "What can I do for you?"

Ruth, propped up against her headboard, sets her teacup back in its saucer and lowers both to her lap. "'Morning, sweetie. How are you today?"

He nods. "I'm doing all right, thanks. I got the care package you sent up, thank you."

She beams. "Take it from me, that sudoku book is extra hard-but no cheating and having EOS help," she warns. "And I know the cherry sours are your favorite; enjoy." She sets the teacup back on its tray and retrieves the comm unit to rest on the blanket over her knees. "I need you to put the vetting protocol in motion on a friend of mine. I've recruited her to help your brothers and Kayo."

John sobers immediately, hands already moving. "What's her name?"

"Dr. Marie McKinley. She's a former Marine, and a licensed therapist. I'd like her to come to the island."

He glances up at her, gauging her expression. "I thought things were getting better," he muses.

Ruth sighs. "I did too, honey. Virgil's at his wits' end with Kayo's nightmares, and Scott-" She shakes her head. "He can't work like this. You and the kids are limping along, but the three of you can't take it all on yourselves. We need everyone if International Rescue is gonna come back from this."

"I know." John looks through her at something only he can see, his eyes flicking over a phantom screen in front of him. "Her time in the Marines checks out, and her license to practice is current. I'll have to let the process run for the final verdict. Can I call you when it's done?"

"Anytime, sweetie." She sets the comm back on the nightstand. "I'll leave you to it."

"Okay. I'll be in touch. Thunderbird Five out." He gives her a wave and disappears, leaving the heavy silence to roll back in.

OoOoOoOoO

Ruth isn't surprised, but she is relieved when Marie's record passes the tough clearance measures Jeff put in place to protect the family and their island base. Arrangements are swiftly made for Tracy-One to ferry Marie from Kansas City to Sydney, and then Gordon is dispatched to fetch her in Ruth's own Ladybird, touching down on the well-disguised runway normally used by Thunderbird Two. Ruth is waiting in the hangar as Ladybird's engines spool down, and she smiles as Gordon pops the door and unfolds the stairway. Marie blinks at the harsh lights, reminding Ruth that guests are required to be blindfolded on the trip to and from Sydney, and then the deep brown eyes go round in surprise.

"Hi Marie," Ruth calls. "Welcome to Tracy Island."

The therapist's sneakers touch the concrete, and she drops her Vera Bradley duffel bag to return Ruth's fond hug. "Glad to be here." She steps back and goes to pick up her bag, only to find that Gordon has grabbed it up. "Thank you, young man."

Gordon grins and sketches her a salute. "No trouble at all."

The trio makes their way toward the elevator to the main house, and when they're behind the steel doors, Marie shakes her head in amazement. "You were right, Ruthie. You could have told me, but I'd never have believed you."

Ruth laughs. "My son did nothing by halves when he built this place, but it's all necessary for the kind of work we do."

Marie eyes her shrewdly. "Don't tell me one of those machines is _yours_."

Gordon chuckles. "We should totally get you your own 'Bird, Grandma! We could call it _Thunderbird G_."

Ruth laughs. "I'll leave the rescuing to you kids, thank you very much." The elevator stops and the doors open on the lounge, revealing the main living space in all its jet-age glory. At her side, Marie sucks in a breath as they move into the plush yet comfortable room.

"Good gracious," Marie murmurs. "Just look at that view."

"I'll stash this in the guest room," Gordon says, and trots up the stairs with Marie's bag.

"While you're up there, please tell your brothers and Kayo to come down," Ruth calls after him.

"F A B," Gordon calls back, and Marie turns to look at the row of portraits hung on the back wall.

"What a handsome family." Marie nudges her friend's elbow. "You and Grant did good, Ruthie."

Ruth can't help but blush as she too studies the well-loved faces. "They have so much of their father in them," she replies. "His ambition, his love of humanity-they all have it in spades. And their mother, God rest her, she gave them their need to stay connected to one another." She smiles. "I couldn't be prouder of any of them."

Marie studies them a moment more, then pulls a notepad and a pen from her back pocket. "Now, who's who?"

Ruth takes her through the portraits, giving names, ages, and short bios of everyone in the gallery. By the time she's done, Marie has filled five of the small sheets with shorthand, and she caps her pen just as Virgil and Kayo come down the stairs, hand in hand. Scott follows a few steps behind, and it tugs at Ruth to see them all descend the stairs slowly, as if they're moving through a dream. All three are silent as they cross the room, and though Marie's face betrays nothing but pleasant mildness, Ruth knows her friend's eyes are cataloguing the differences between the portraits and the people she now sees before her.

"Kids, this is my friend, Dr. Marie McKinley," Ruth begins. "She and I went to school together, so I've known her for-well, a long time." The two women share a smirk. "She's a former Marine and a licensed therapist. I thought she might be able to help us."

"Welcome to the island, Dr. McKinley," says Scott, stepping forward to shake her hand. "I'm-"

"Scott, the team leader and the eldest," Marie finishes, taking his hand in hers. "Your grandma told me. Good to meet you."

"I'm Virgil," says the man in question, letting go of Kayo to shake her hand. "Welcome." He steps back, gently ushering Kayo forward.

"I'm Tanusha, but everyone calls me Kayo." She cracks a wan smile. "Unofficial Tracy sister."

"Nice to meet you all." Marie turns to Ruth. "Now. Any place you'd recommend for us to have a little time to get to know each other?"

OoOoOoO

They end up where they started-Ruth's sitting room. Ruth excuses herself to confer with Gordon, Alan and MAX about conjuring something edible for dinner, and to anticipate John's arrival. In her absence, the four who remain behind arrange themselves on the sofa and chairs, mugs of steaming tea and a plate of (store-bought) cookies on the low table to add some childhood comforts to what Ruth knows will be a difficult discussion.

"So," Scott begins. "Marines, huh?"

Marie nods. "Best twenty-five years of my life," she replies. "I understand you're Air Force."

"Yeah. I'm a Global Conflict vet." He shrugs. "Would have been career, but Dad cooked up International Rescue, so I did my four years and hung it up."

"Many differences between the two, or are they similar?"

Another shrug. "At least I'm not getting shot at now."

Virgil snorts. "Most of the time. There was that satellite with the lasers."

"Oh, right." The conversation dies, leaving them to sit and stare at anywhere except each other.

Marie doesn't speak, merely makes sure that her notepad and pen are to hand, so it's Virgil who once again breaks the silence. "So, what has Grandma told you about-" he gestures toward himself and his two fellow walking wounded. "About what happened?"

"Well," Marie begins, "she told me that there is a particular person who seems to have it out for your family, and that Scott and Kayo tangled with him not too long ago."

"He calls himself 'The Hood,'" Scott spits, and Kayo shudders. "No one outside this room knows his true name. He's got his dirty hands in every kind of criminal activity you can think of: Drugs, human trafficking, industrial espionage. There's no telling what his net worth is, but every cent was made from human suffering." He looks away for a moment, and Marie knows he's trying desperately to hang on to his temper with both hands. "Did Grandma tell you that Kayo is his niece?"

"Half-niece," Virgil corrects sternly. "Kyrano and the Hood are half-brothers."

"You're related, in any case," Marie confirms, with a nod at Kayo. "Were you ever close?"

Kayo blinks at Marie for a moment. "No, we weren't. I saw him from time to time when I was growing up, but no, we weren't close, and even then, I wasn't aware of...the full extent of what he does." She glances over at Scott. "Other than Jeff, the Tracy family didn't know of our connection until very recently."

"I see," says Marie, jotting notes. "When did that knowledge come to light?"

Kayo looks at Scott, but he dips his chin once, leaving her to tell it. "I'm assuming since you're here that you know who we are, and what we do," she begins. "When he first began to make his fortune, Jeff toured a mining facility in Malaysia. There was a mine collapse, and my father and his brother were working in the mine. Jeff's quick actions saved my father...but my uncle was trapped." She shrugs. "Jeff tried to reach him, but the damage was too severe. For years, my father was convinced my uncle was dead."

Scott snorts, but Virgil shoots him a poisonous look, and his mouth remains shut.

Kayo keeps her eyes on Marie. "My uncle was eventually rescued, but he was seriously injured and had a long period of recovery." She shakes her head. "From what we can gather, my uncle developed an irrational hatred for Jeff, whom he saw as failing to come to his rescue."

"Definitely not how Dad remembered it," Virgil breaks in. He nudges Kayo. "Sorry to interrupt."

Kayo gives him a flash of a smile, then turns back to Marie. "Father and Jeff became friends, and after my mother died, Father and I spent much of our time with the Tracys." She reaches over without looking and laces her fingers through Virgil's. "When Lucy-Mrs. Tracy, that is-passed away, we sort of joined families, and it's been that way ever since."

"And how old were you then?"

"I was eight," Kayo answers. "Virgil was ten, and Scott was fourteen."

"So, safe to say that the three of you, along with your other siblings, have been more or less family since that time."

Scott speaks up next. "Right. Kayo was away for her schooling, but other than that, we've all been close. Kayo was always going to be a part of International Rescue; Dad included her in all of the plans." He glances over at Kayo, giving her a tight-lipped smile. "She's an invaluable part of our team; we couldn't do what we do without her."

Marie smiles, noting how Kayo accepts the compliment without protest. "And Virgil, the fact that you fell in love with someone you once called 'sister' doesn't bother you?"

Virgil colors slightly. "It was a little odd at first, like maybe we shouldn't, but-" He looks at her, his eyes full of love. "I think I've always known," he adds quietly.

"What do you think, Scott? Do you approve of Kayo and Virgil being together?" Her tone is conversational, fact-finding; she will dial in on each one of them in turn, but for now, she wants broad impressions, what Scott will say in front of his brother and 'sister,' to compare with what he will say later when they're not around to hear.

Scott nods, his eyes softening and his expression relaxing. "I think they're perfect together. They suit each other."

"Thanks, Scott," Virgil says, and Marie can see the larger man's frame unclench just a little.

"When did the Hood start harassing you?"

Both Virgil and Kayo look to Scott to answer this question, and the pilot shifts uncomfortably in his seat. "Three years ago, Brains-er, Dr. Hackenbacker, our engineer-and my father created an experimental craft that they dubbed 'TV-21.' This craft had all the refinements of our Thunderbirds, and more; it was intended to be a test vehicle for improvements to the 'Birds." He swallows, leaning forward with elbows on knees, twisting his hands together tightly. "Dad insisted on piloting it. He always said he didn't want us flying anything he wouldn't fly himself."

As Scott speaks, Kayo leans into Virgil, who wraps his arms around her. Marie watches them out of the corner of her eye, making a mental note of how they cling to each other, bracing for the impact of his next words.

"Dad went down in the middle of the Atlantic during the test flight," says Scott, voice quiet but steady; Marie wonders how many times he's actually said those words aloud. "We have strong reasons to believe that the Hood sabotaged his craft."

"And you've never found him." She isn't asking a question.

"No." Scott raises his head to fix her with a blue topaz gaze. "We retrieved TV-21 from the bottom of the ocean about a year ago. We found evidence of sabotage, but…" He shrugs. "It's as if he just disappeared." He glances at Kayo. "Kyrano has been looking for him ever since. We have a network of contacts, but nothing has turned up."

"I see." Marie jots a note, then looks up. "And now this...the Hood...has stepped up his game, as it were?"

"He wants a child," Kayo supplies, Virgil's arm still around her shoulders. "He lured Scott and I into a trap and forced us to have sex. He took genetic material from both of us; we assume he's going to try to conceive a child in vitro to implant into a surrogate."

"That's what he told us, anyway," Scott says darkly. "He hadn't planned for Kayo to bear it."

"Sounds positively diabolical," Marie puts in. "Virgil, your grandmother told me that this has had a unique impact on you. Can you tell me a little more about that?"

Virgil shoots the barest of glances toward Scott, then opens his mouth. "I was angry at first, but then I realized that neither of them could have changed the outcome, not if they wanted to make it out of there."

Marie nods. "A reasonable conclusion." The room is silent as she makes a few more notes, then she looks back up at Virgil. "You were not called out as well, I take it?"

"Actually, I was in Nebraska at the time with Gordon and Alan, assisting with cleanup from an F-5 tornado," Virgil replies. "Scott had been called out to survey an area in the Urals for a missing group of hikers, and since Kayo's specialty is reconnaissance, Scott tasked her for the mission as well." His face darkens. "We didn't know at the time that it was a hoax."

"I see." Marie lets out a breath. "And in the end, the Hood let you leave."

Scott is studying the boards between his shoe-tops, elbows on knees. "I think it's a case of him wanting us to walk away knowing what he'd done," he grits. "Killing us wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying as watching us tear each other apart."

"It's part and parcel of who he is, though," Virgil adds. "Sick bastard."

Marie glances up at Kayo, who is silent but looks as if she is poised to flee. The young woman's eyes, the color of Granny Smith apples, lock onto hers in silent entreaty. From what Marie has been able to gather thus far, Kayo is a strong woman under siege, despite being physically safe. The young woman in the portrait downstairs is poised, confident, with a distinct air of danger about her despite her lovely face. The one in front of her is still lovely, but danger now crawls at the back of those haunted eyes.

Marie knows that haunted look, has seen it time and again-not only in the face of hardened Marines reduced to shaking heaps of humanity in the aftermath of combat, but in walking bundles of wreckage that wash up on the chair in her practice. It's a silent plea of a wounded animal that has no words to express the horror they've witnessed, and can only beg for relief.

If not for the hulking young man beside her, so much in love with her that it practically oozes from his pores, Marie knows for certain that Kayo would be dead.

Whoever this man is, Marie thinks, she hopes he is caught soon, or those six brave faces in oil and canvas will be the only thing left of the Tracys- _and_ the Thunderbirds.

However, that is one task she is more than happy to leave to the authorities. Right now, she has the harder job, which is helping said Thunderbirds to heal from their latest encounter with their father's nemesis. She makes a note to herself to speak to Ruth at length about her son, and find out what kind of a man not only builds an empire of this magnitude but inspires his children to throw themselves into his fight, not unlike generations of servicemembers, police, or firefighters she's encountered.

"All right," she says aloud. "Scott, I'd like to talk with you for just a little while. Do you have someplace you'd prefer rather than here?"

Scott looks up, surprised. "Yeah, I suppose." He glances over at Virgil and Kayo. "I guess we'll catch up with you guys at dinner?"

Kayo and Virgil nod and get to their feet, both looking relieved at their chance to escape; the image of jungle cats going to lick their wounds flits through Marie's mind. She suppresses a smile; likely Virgil wouldn't be opposed to giving his lover some gentle laving in a secluded corner, but at the moment, she thinks that might be a bit too much to hope for in Kayo's fragile state.

When the door closes behind them, Marie turns to Scott. "So. Where to?"

He smiles, giving her a hint of what her granddaughter once saw in this handsome young man. "Let me introduce you to my best girl."

OoOoOoOoOoO

On the way downstairs, Scott explains the load-in sequence, which makes Marie very glad that they are taking the elevator. Standing beside Thunderbird One, she cranes her neck to catch a glimpse of the bright red nose cone, nearly six stories up. The letters proclaiming the craft's call sign shimmer in the half-light of her currently dim berth, giving the impression that the rocket is sleeping, awaiting her pilot's touch. "She's...spectacular," she breathes.

Scott smiles, his sapphire eyes squinting into crinkles that remind Marie of his grandmother. He will be an attractive man his entire life, she thinks; lines on this face will only add more character and a rugged charm, turning it wise and dashing as it softens from its current movie-star sharpness. "Thank you," he says, voice brimming with quiet pride. "Ready to come aboard?"

Marie blinks. "Oh-alright." Taking his outstretched hand, she steps with him onto a diamond-plate steel circle outlined in yellow and black tape and bordered with red-painted guard rails. He flips open a compartment with the toe of his sneaker and taps a green button, then flips the cover back over-a very practiced series of movements, speaking of how many times he's done so before. She has a moment's discombobulation when the circle beneath them turns slightly, and they begin to rise alongside of Thunderbird One.

"Steady on," he warns, grabbing her other hand as it gropes in the air. "Sorry. I figured this would be a little easier to take than the gantry." He points up to where the rock face supports an outcropping of steel girders. "I use that when I come down my load chute." He grins again, flashing dimples that, even at her age, make her heart do a little flip. "My brothers always razz me about that. They have no idea how I can use it without taking a header." He takes Marie's shoulders and gently turns them to face the fuselage, and Marie chuckles as their reflection, blurry in the craft's riveted aluminum skin, rises with them. "The trick is to never take your eyes off your destination."

The platform beneath them gives a metallic thud that echoes in the massive space, and they stop before a multi-paned canopy. It automatically parts, revealing a pilot's seat upholstered with quilted red leather, set on either side with two levers that look deceptively simple. The hand grips are polished to a high shine with use, and the tread on the foot pedals is scuffed and scarred. Stepping carefully over the threshold, Marie turns and looks up to see a professional photo of a man in an astronaut's uniform pasted above the hatch. The man's features echo those of the one standing by her side, and they are beginning to blur with wear.

"That's Dad," he says, and reaches up-as she is sure he does every time he enters-to brush his fingertips against his father's face.

"I remember your folks," Marie says into the reverent pause after Scott's words. "He's left some pretty big boots for you boys to fill."

He blinks, and part of Marie regrets having to drag him back from basking in the remembrance of his heroic father. "I'd like to think we're just keeping them warm for him," he replies, then gestures to the tandem seat behind his. "Please have a seat, Dr. McKinley." He takes his customary place, then swivels to face her. "Now, you said you needed to talk to me?"

Marie brings out a palm-sized recording unit and lays it on her knee. "Do you mind if I record our discussion?" She knows he's aware of doctor-patient privilege, but she also knows that the Tracys guard their privacy with special care, in order to do what they do without hindrance. However, for this conversation, she wants the nuances of his voice instead of just his words. "It won't be shared with anyone."

He eyes the recorder dubiously for a moment, then nods. "Sure. Forgive my hesitation; It's not that I don't trust you, Dr. McKinley, it's just-with the Hood, we've learned to be extremely cautious."

She returns his nod and keys the recorder to life, then sets it on the arm of the chair beside her. "He knows things that he couldn't possibly know, is that it?"

He snorts. "Many times. The TV21 project was not on anyone's radar, and yet-" He breaks off, shaking his head, eyes closing, pain rolling off of him in waves. "We took extra care to vet our suppliers. No one person, not even us five, knew every detail about the assembly. Even Brains-Dr. Hackenbacker-didn't have full access, that was how concerned Dad was about sabotage." When his eyes open, they are cold and steely-blue, and so is his voice. "Everyone has a price, and the Hood makes it his business to find out what it is."

"From what he's done to you and Kayo, it sounds like he's still in business," Marie said, crossing her legs and leaning forward with hands clasped on her knee. "Since he couldn't break you by taking away your father, he's attacking your bond to each other."

This lands the conversation neatly in the territory she needs it to be in, though she does feel another pang of regret for the way Scott stiffens. The proud flyboy fades to be replaced by a hunted and haunted young man, fists clenched in rage and spine bowed by shame. "I should have seen it," he grits. "I should have known it was a trap."

Marie raises an eyebrow. "Was there any way to discover that before you went?"

He thinks about this a moment. "People don't need to use a specific frequency to contact us. John-he's our space monitor up on Thunderbird Five, in geosynch-his equipment scans for keywords and voice stress." He cracks a mirthless smile. "If people need us, they're usually pretty desperate, and there's very little error in identifying who needs help."

"I'd think you of all people would know that no system is foolproof."

"No," he admits, though it's through his teeth. "But we don't spend a whole lot of time dithering. Minutes can mean the difference between who dies and who doesn't."

Marie lets his veiled accusation buffet her and roll past. Scott is angry, but at this moment, she's not exactly sure who he's angry with. She's been a therapist long enough to know that it's not obvious to Scott who he's angry with, either, and that experience tells her that if they can pinpoint that party, it can go a long way toward resolving this situation. "You've made it your job to respond that way," she reflects. "I'm sure you've saved countless people by making those kinds of decisions."

He tips forward to run his hands over his face and through his hair. "Sure. Just not when it comes to my sister, I guess."

"You were in danger as well, Scott."

He flushes scarlet. "So much for self-preservation. I couldn't even keep _myself_ out of trouble. Not sure I'm qualified to save anyone else." He threads his fingers through his hair again and grips a handful, staring at the floor. "Big damn hero getting his ass handed to him. Some legacy for the great Jeff Tracy, to have a fuck-up for a son."

His words are particularly telling, and she's grateful that he seems to have forgotten about the recorder. For a split second, Marie gets a glimpse of the howling self-doubt at Scott's core. She's fairly certain that it's always been there, albeit under tight control most of the time, but now has suddenly grown into a full-blown hurricane. "Scott," she begins, "what would you say to your father if he was here?"

His head jerks up at her words, and for an instant, she can see the boy behind the eyes of the man. "Wh...what does that have to do with anything?"

"It has a lot to do with everything," she retorts. "Maybe this will make it easier: Pretend I'm your father. You can say anything to me that you need to."

She can almost hear the wheels turning at breakneck speed in his head. "I'd say…" He blows out a breath, letting his hand fall to his lap, eyes roaming the surfaces of the vehicle his father built. "I'd say...I've missed you. I've wished every day that I could talk to you. There are so many things…" His eyes shutter closed, pain writ large in the way he presses his lips into a firm line. "...so many things I need to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Marie replies, voice even. "Such as?"

He snorts. "Where should I start? I've got three years' worth…" He stops and raises his eyes to hers, and her spine tingles with the knowledge that Jefferson Tracy has taken her place. "Three years," he echoes. " _Three goddamn years,_ Dad. We waited and waited...we've never stopped looking. We won't, as long as I'm alive." He gives a sudden bark of bitter laughter. "Which, going by our last outing, who knows how long that'll be?"

"You made it out alive, Scott," she counters. "That's all that counts."

"That's such _bullshit,"_ he spits. "We wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place if I'd done my job!"

"What about John?" Marie presses. "Should he have taken the call in the first place?"

"He just gets the calls, it's not his job to analyze them."

"Isn't it?"

"No, it-" He stops for a moment, staring at the floor between his feet. "N-well, maybe. But if he didn't find anything wrong with it, it goes to me to decide. Checks and balances." Scott shakes his head. "No. This isn't John's fault."

Marie wonders how many times he's been the scapegoat for his younger brothers over the years, shifting their punishment to his shoulders. "Wasn't much you could do while drugged, son."

She's not surprised when he shakes his head again. "I could have fought it. I could have resisted."

"You did what you had to do to save yourself and your sister."

Marie watches his hands curl into fists as grief steamrollers over him. "Oh God, _Tawny._ I swear, I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch for what he did to her." He stops short, eyes wide, and his hands open and lift as if to try and stuff the words back in. "I mean...I'll see he gets what's coming to him for that. Just add it to the laundry list the GDF has on him."

"It's alright to be angry, son. No one's perfect."

His eyes flash up to hers, though she knows . "Except _you,"_ he spits.

 _Now_ they're getting somewhere. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's true!" Scott is practically vibrating with rage. "The great Jefferson Tracy, expecting all his little clones to fall in line behind him." Tears appear at the corners of his eyes. "You left _us_ to fight _your_ battles. You left us _alone._ _You_ couldn't escape the Hood, and neither can _we!"_

Scott's voice breaks halfway through his tirade, and by the time it's over, he's sobbing. Marie pauses, feeling the shade of Jeff Tracy dissipate, until it's just a senior ex-Marine therapist and a broken young hero facing each other in this cramped space.

"I'm sorry," Scott whispers. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry."

"Scott," Marie says gently. "I didn't know your father well, but from what your grandmother says, he was a reasonable man. I think he'd agree that you did everything you could. You got out alive. You can't go back and change what happened. Now it's time to deal with what comes next."

"I keep telling myself that." Scott raises his head and reaches out to retrieve a box of tissues from a storage locker. He takes one and blows his nose, then closes the locker and stuffs the tissue in the pocket of his jeans. "The whole thing just keeps going around and around in my head and I can't get it to stop."

"I know." She ducks her head to look him in the face. "What our job is now is to _interrupt_ those thoughts and replace them with something different."

He opens the locker again to grab another tissue; this time, he leaves it open. "Like what?"

"Well, that's up to you. What's the very best thing you can think of?"

"Aside from getting Dad back?" The hint of a smile ghosts across his face. "You're sitting in her."

"Good, we can work with that." Marie nods. "Every time you think about what the Hood did to you and Kayo, and how it makes you feel, I want you to replace it with a thought about Thunderbird One. Except I don't want you to just _think_ about her; I want you to _feel_ her. Let the feelings you have when you're with her take over." She watches him, making sure that he's following her train of thought. "It'll take some practice, but if you're dedicated, the feelings you have about the Hood will lose their sharp edges. Make no mistake, they'll still be there, but _you_ will be in control of them."

He stares at the floor for a long moment, absorbing her words, and when he looks up again, she is heartened to see that he just might believe her. "It sounds so simple."

She tips her head to the side in a half-shrug. "If it does, it's because I've managed to explain it well enough. Those who have been through it will tell you that it's not easy to put into practice."

He blinks in surprise, and it occurs to her that he is indeed very perceptive, having caught on to her self-revelation. "Have _you_ , Dr. McKinley?"

"Yes. A long time ago." Marie lets the familiar images roll through her mind which, like Jeff Tracy's photograph, are faded but still present. "I was attached to a mobile medical unit in Turkey, which was the first stop for those wounded in action headed back to the 'States. The men and women who came through there…" She shakes her head. "All I could do was talk. I couldn't make them whole again, couldn't give them back their arms, their legs, their spirits." She sighs. "I decided to take some of my own medicine, and slowly, it got easier. I decided to look at each person who came in as an opportunity to _help,_ not just another person I couldn't heal."

"Huh. Never thought about it that way." Scott's eyes are still swollen from tears, but Marie thinks there might be a hint of new life in them. "I still can't believe this happened. The Hood...what does he do, lay awake at night and think of new ways to hurt my family?" He shakes his head. "And what if…" He stops and takes a breath, hands tightening as if to hang on to his new-found control. "What if his plan actually works? What then?"

"What if it does? You and Kayo will need to make some decisions about that."

"I feel like Virgil should be a part of that, too." The pained look falls over him again. "They were gonna get married in a few months, you know? And now all this."

Marie _didn't_ know, and she makes a mental note to keep this detail in mind when she speaks with both Kayo and Virgil. "If the Hood's plans come to fruition, I doubt he'll make it difficult to miss. From what your grandmother has told me, he enjoys watching your family's reactions to his schemes."

"He does. And you're right, if it does work, he'll find a way to make sure we're aware of it." Scott picks at a fingernail. "Kayo told me that she wants us to rescue the child, if there is one, but I'm not sure our family can withstand that."

"From what I've seen, your family has withstood some serious blows and is still here, still ready to stand in the gap for those who need help." She switches off the recorder. "Speaking as a friend of your grandmother's, are you prepared for the kind of fight he'll put up if you try and take his child from him?"

"But it won't _be_ his child," he retorts hotly. "It'll be Kayo's...and mine." Once again, his eyes close against the weight of that statement, but he keeps his composure. "He'll have no legal claim. No court in the world would side with him."

"I don't know, Scott," Marie replies. "Your grandmother has told me this man always seems to stay outside the law, or when they do catch up, he bends the law to his will." She doesn't want to wound him further, but she hasn't lived this long without gaining some understanding of human nature. "Such a fight has the potential to be very long, very public, and very expensive. At the end, the outcome may not be what you hoped."

Anger flickers at the back of those sapphire eyes like cold flame. "So, what are you saying? Are you telling me we should let him keep the child, raise it to hate us too, so _our_ kids will have to deal with his family?"

Marie is a realist, but right now, she wishes she wasn't. She wishes she could tell him it will all work out, that he and his brothers can go after the Hood, swoop down with their beautiful machines, and whisk the innocent child away to their island castle like some 21st-century fairy tale. "What I'm saying is that this deserves a great deal of thought before you make any decision."

She can see how this wars within him, the pull of rescuing the innocent and yet the very real thought that whatever the Hood dished out previously, it would pale in comparison to his fury at such a move. "I understand," he concedes.

"Kitchen to Thunderbird One," chirps a youngish voice over the comm. "Scotty, you in there?"

Scott's eyes flick up to Marie, and she's relieved to see that he's smiling. "Go ahead, Al."

"Grandma said to tell you that dinner's ready."

He makes a face that looks as if he's bracing himself for bad news, and Marie hides a smile behind her hand. "What are we having?"

"Don't worry. John made spaghetti." The voice rises to a shout. "Gordon! Get back here with that pan; that garlic bread was for everyone!"

Scott chuckles. "Okay, we'll be right up. Thunderbird One out." He stands, offering a hand to her, and Marie is pleased to see that he is standing straighter, the burden of despair shifted just enough to let him breathe.

However, as they make their way back to the villa, Marie knows: This fight is nowhere near over.


	6. Shadowheart

The Madman's Heir

Ch. 6: Shadowheart

 **TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of rape.**

"Something smells good," Marie says, as she and Scott walk into the kitchen. John is at the stove, stirring a large pot with a steady rhythm, and as she watches, he pauses to fish a teaspoon from the pocket of his apron and dips it into the contents. After blowing on the steaming contents, he takes a taste, then nods to himself. He leaves his stirring for a moment to lay the used spoon in the sink, then grabs another teaspoon from a drawer and scoops up a second dollop of herb-flecked tomato sauce.

"Here," he says, holding out the spoon with his left hand while continuing to stir with his right. "Someone come taste this."

Marie is watching Scott out of the corner of her eye, and is encouraged by how he steps up and takes the spoon. "I'll bite." He too blows on the steaming sauce, then slurps it down.

John glances up as Scott considers. "So, what's the verdict?"

Scott gives him a thumbs-up, then swallows and puts the spoon in the sink. "It's perfect. Don't change a thing." He pats the redhead between the shoulder blades, eliciting a pleased smile from the amateur chef.

Meanwhile, Virgil and Kayo are sitting at the table, talking quietly, fused together from fingertip to shoulder. Alan hurries through the door, clutching a pan heaped with thick, buttery slices of toasted bread. He's trailed by Gordon, who is stuffing bread into his mouth.

"Here, take this before Gordon eats it all." Alan shoves the pan at Virgil, who blinks at it as if wondering how it got there.

"Come _on,_ I've only had _three,"_ Gordon whines. "I'm a growing boy!"

"We're cutting you off, kiddo," says Ruth, laying plates around the table. "Marie, where are you sitting?"

"Anywhere you'd like to put me," Marie replies, chuckling as Virgil slaps Gordon's hand away from the bread pan.

Gordon picks up a glass. "What's your poison, Dr. McKinley? Water, wine, high-protein performance shake?"

"Water would be just fine, thanks."

Gordon turns on his heel and heads toward the massive glass doors, only to stop at the whipcrack of his grandmother's voice.

"Gordon Cooper! Where in the world are you going?"

"Out to the pool," Gordon replies, all innocence. "Nothing but the finest in chlorinated libations for our guests!"

"Stop clowning and get back here," Ruth snaps. "Marie, I really did raise him right."

"What, I drink it all the time!" Gordon grins and turns back to the kitchen. "Okay, okay. Filtered it is." He snickers as he fills the glass at the refrigerator. "I guess it _is_ an acquired taste."

"Dial it back, Gordy," Virgil warns. "Sorry, Dr. McKinley. We were born in Kansas, but not in an actual barn-despite Gordon's acting to the contrary."

"Hey, I just keep things interesting." Gordon gently sets the filled glass at Marie's elbow, then reaches to grab a spaghetti noodle from the steaming pot John is bringing to the table. The blond turns and hurls the pasta at the nearest wall, where it clings. "Spaghetti's done," he announces, then scrapes the noodle off the wall and tosses it into the trash. "What?" he retorts, when the redhead gives him a hot turquoise glare. "Don't tell me you've never done that. It's the best way to tell if it's done."

"If you're living in a frat house, it is," John spits. "Would it kill you to be classy just this once?"

"Eh, I'd rather not take the chance," Gordon replies. He plunks down beside Alan, elbowing the youngest in an exaggerated attempt at getting more space at the table. Alan counters by throwing his own elbow, then smacks Gordon's hand away when his older brother attempts to snag a fourth slice of bread.

 _"_ _Boys,"_ Ruth says sharply, then softens as she takes her place at the head of the table. "Let's say Grace."

Gordon's hand shoots up into the air. "I'll do it!"

" _No,"_ comes a chorus from five throats.

Scott gets to his feet, and every head bows obediently. "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen."

Just as Gordon reaches up to give Alan a wet willy, six hands make the Sign of the Cross with reverent deliberation. Alan slaps Gordon upside the head with his left hand, scowling but silent. Grinning like a fool, Gordon makes a somewhat sloppier and more hurried version of the gesture, but a glare from his grandmother has him piously lowering his eyes to his empty plate.

"Bless us O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Amen." Seven voices echo Scott's 'Amen,' and then fall into an eager silence as he turns to the stack of plates next to him.

"Guests get served first," Ruth reminds him as he grabs up the pair of tongs that are sticking out of the spaghetti pot. "Speak up if you need anything, Marie."

"I will, thank you." Marie smiles as Alan hands her a plate piled high with a Tracy-size portion. "Oh, my. I think this'll last me for a few days."

Marie is interested to see that Ruth is served next, and then Scott serves his brothers, beginning with the youngest, filling his own plate last. For a short time, there is only the sound of cutlery against stoneware, until Marie notices that Kayo is dragging the noodles through the sauce in a complex pattern of swirls instead of actually eating. Therefore it comes as no great surprise when Kayo lays down her fork.

"May I be excused?" Kayo asks, schoolgirl polite. She glances up at John, who sits across from her. "I'm sure it's delicious, I'm just...not very hungry right now."

He gives her a little smile, a line of concern between his ginger brows, but says nothing.

Ruth sets down her fork and wipes her mouth. "I'll put it in the refrigerator for you, honey," she says. "You go rest."

Without looking at anyone, Kayo pushes back from the table and exits onto the pool deck through the glass doors. Virgil half-rises to follow, but stops at his grandmother's hand on his arm.

This is Marie's cue, and she, too, lays her fork beside the mountain of pasta. "Excuse me, please." She rises from the table and follows the girl, finding her seated on the lounge chair farthest from the glass doors.

"Kayo," she begins over the hush and rumble of the waves. "I'd like to talk to you, if I may."

The girl turns and considers this for a moment, but her next words make Marie's offer to reschedule die unsaid. "Yes, I think we'd better." She gestures to the next chaise over and turns around to face the house.

"We can go somewhere more private, if you'd like."

She smirks. "Trust me, we won't be disturbed here." With a sigh, she casts her gaze out to the ocean. "You know, I've been dreading this moment ever since you got here, but now that we're here..." She manages a half-smile. "I didn't want to talk about this, but now I feel like it's a huge sore that needs to be lanced. Maybe if I get all the poison out, it won't hurt as much." Kayo looks down at her hands in her lap. "That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"A great deal of sense, in fact," Marie reassures her. "Keeping thoughts and feelings about pain or trauma to ourselves can wear us down. Eventually, those thoughts _will_ come out, usually in unhealthy ways." She smiles gently. "Your being here tells me that you want to find healthy ways to express your thoughts and feelings."

Kayo wearily closes her eyes. "I'm so tired, Dr. McKinley-and it's not a good tired, like the tired we all feel after hard work. This is…" She shudders. "Like the exhaustion you feel when you're coming down with something, or a hangover." She shrugs and opens her eyes, turning a dull olivine gaze on Marie. "I just want to feel like myself again. I feel like I'm of absolutely no use to anyone. Ask any of my family; they'll tell you that's not like me at all."

"I believe it," Marie says with a wry smile. "From what Ruth tells me, you're a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the job."

Kayo gives a little nod of acknowledgement. "My father expected nothing less from me. He taught me everything I know, and I always wanted to make him proud."

"Is he?"

She smiles. "He's always said so." Her smile fades, and she raises her legs to clasp her arms around her knees. "I haven't told him about what happened."

"Why not?"

"You remember why he's not here, right?"

It's always concerning when a client answers a question with another question, but Marie lets it slide. "Yes, he's looking for evidence regarding Mr. Tracy's disappearance. That must take everything he has."

"It does." Kayo's voice is cold and deadly. "As we said before, we suspect his brother. If I tell my father that the Hood is responsible for hurting me-especially when he hears _how_ -he won't stop until the Hood is dead."

"You would rather your father not stoop to being this man's judge, jury, and executioner, is that it?"

Kayo's expression suddenly reminds Marie of a hungry panther. "Dr. McKinley, my father is the bodyguard of one of the most powerful and influential men on Earth. In that line of duty, he has never hesitated to be judge, jury, and executioner when the situation called for it," she purrs. "We all want the Hood out of our lives, but we know he needs to be in prison, not six feet under-at least, not until we get answers about Jeff." She shakes her head. "I can't take that away from them."

"I can understand your reasoning." Marie leans forward, clasping her hands around her knee. "However, you can't carry that responsibility on _your_ shoulders. You have a right to tell your father that you've been hurt and to receive his love and care." She nods. "I can tell you that if one of my children or grandchildren was hurt in the way you have been, and didn't tell me or let me comfort them, I'd be devastated." When Kayo opens her mouth to protest, Marie holds up a hand. "I'm not trying to shame you into telling him. It's obvious to me that family is very important to your father, and I think he'd want to know if someone hurt his daughter. Make sure you make time to tell him, and let him police his own behavior. Chances are, he'll come to the same conclusion you have."

Marie pauses a moment to let Kayo think about this, and from the way the girl's eyes stare unfocused out at the ocean, she's following Marie's train of thought. "I will," Kayo says after a few heartbeats.

"Good." They both shift on their respective chaises. "So, like you said, you've known the Tracys for most of your life, correct?"

Kayo nods, unfolding one leg but keeping her chin on her raised knee, and the breeze stirs the halo of fine hairs around her face that have escaped her ponytail. "I met them at Lucy's memorial service." She smiles at the memory, softened by time. "Virgil looked so sad. I asked him if he wanted to hold my hand. He didn't let go until it was time for us to go to bed."

"How sweet." Marie, too, smiles at the mental picture of the two children clinging to one another for comfort. "So it's been you and Virgil since that day, it seems."

"He was just my brother for many years," Kayo clarifies. "A friend, a playmate-" Her smile gains a bit of a wicked edge. "A sparring partner, when we were old enough. We both joined a karate dojo and used to take turns walloping each other in the barn. I'll never forget the look on his face the first time I put him on his back in the dirt."

Marie chuckles. "I'll bet that was the start of his learning not to underestimate you."

"It was indeed." Kayo's smile fades slightly. "Those were good years, before we all scattered to the winds. I went off to school, Scott joined the Air Force, John went to MIT and then to NASA." She shrugs. "Playmates grow up, though."

"Or, they learn to play grown-up games?" Marie ventures, but Kayo doesn't blush.

"Eventually," Kayo allows. "Virgil and I snuck a bottle of champagne off to the garden at John's graduation party. I was seventeen, he was nineteen. We thought we were all that and then some." She gives a rueful chuckle. "The next day, we found out we weren't anything-except incredibly sick."

"I can imagine."

Now Kayo does blush. "We'd stolen a few kisses here and there, and maybe spent a little too much time by ourselves doing what hormonal teenagers do, but we stopped short of going 'all the way' as they say. That night, I found out he'd he'd slept with a girl he'd met at summer camp. It was probably the alcohol, but I was devastated and started blubbering." She chuckles. "That sobered him up. He told me he hadn't known it would be such a big deal to me, and he apologized for being so careless." She raises her head to look Marie in the eye. "He dropped down on one knee and told me that when I turned eighteen, it'd be his honor to be my first. I thought that was the most romantic thing I'd ever heard, so I agreed."

Marie nods. "Perhaps a bit after the fact, but sounds like his heart was in the right place."

"Just so. I think he was afraid my first time would be with some random spotty git, and he wanted it to be with someone who would still care about me afterward." Kayo casts her gaze out to the sea. "When I turned eighteen, we made good on our promise, but then he sowed a few wild oats after college and tried to turn Scott prematurely grey." She lowers her foot to the deck and leans forward, elbows on knees. "That didn't last long. It couldn't, not after Jeff created International Rescue."

Marie smiles. "I can see that he cares for you deeply. Did that happen gradually, or was there a particular point that it happened?"

Kayo is silent for a moment. "What we do always has the potential to turn deadly," she explains. "We could be pulling a climber off a mountain or evacuating a crippled ocean liner-and something unexpected happens." She shrugs. "We plan for a lot of scenarios, but there's no such thing as 'predictable' in our line of work. Lines break. A rogue wave rolls in. We nearly lost Virgil on a call like that; a cable snapped and sliced his leg open, then he fell and broke his shoulder. He was laid up for several months until he could return to duty." She closes her eyes, and Marie knows she is seeing Virgil's limp, bloody form in her memory. "I got to him first. He was barely conscious, but the first words out of his mouth were 'I love you.'" Kayo raises her head and smiles at Marie. "He told me later that if was going to die, he wanted to make sure he told me at least once."

"So it just went on from there, I take it?"

Kayo nods. "It was the first time he'd said it not as my brother, but for _me."_ She smiles, eyes going unfocused. "All of a sudden, it just made sense. I told him I loved him right back, and that's the way it's been ever since." Her expression darkens. "Until now."

Marie considers the young woman before her. "From what I've seen, it looks like Virgil is still very much in love with you."

Kayo picks at a loose thread on the chaise. "He _says_ he is." She sighs. "I have no idea _why._ "

"Why would you doubt him?"

Her eyes squeeze shut. "Because I'm…"

Marie leans forward, her voice gentle. "You're what, Kayo?"

"I'm damaged goods." She shakes her head, laughing bitterly. "His father's worst enemy made me screw his big brother at gunpoint. What man would want _that_ in his bed every night?"

There is a long pause while Marie gathers her thoughts, reaching once again for the wherewithal that she described to Scott. At length, Marie turns to the younger woman and fixes her with a kindly, but determined gaze. "Kayo," says Marie, "this may sound strange at first, but I need you to hear me out." Kayo nods, shifting to tuck one leg underneath her on the chaise. "What feelings or emotions do you associate with the word 'rape'?"

Kayo blinks once, twice, and Marie can see a flicker of confusion in the peridot irises before she speaks. "Violence. Hatred. Perversion. A desire to wound irreparably."

"Anything else?"

Kayo answers quickly this time. "Power. Domination. Fear. Humiliation."

"What happened between you and Scott, Kayo?"

The young woman narrows her eyes. "What kind of question is _that?"_ she snarls. "We told you."

Marie nods. "You recounted the events, yes, but what I want to know is what _happened._ I want you to take me through it as if I'm seeing it through your eyes."

Kayo regards her warily. "Why would you want something like that? It was horrible."

"I'm sure it was," Marie agrees. "You were alone with Scott. I thought it might help to show someone else what happened, so that you're _not_ alone."

Kayo studies the stamped concrete, a frown line between her brows, but she nods. "Where…" She takes a deep breath. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Wherever you need to. Remember, it's as if I'm standing next to you."

Her eyes close, and when she speaks, her calm, distant voice makes it clear that Kayo's meditative discipline has come into play. "He's laying there so quietly, I think he's dead," she admits. Her face relaxes a fraction. "When I find out he's warm and has a pulse, that's the first clue I have that we might actually get out of there alive."

"Then what happens?"

The question hasn't broken Kayo's trance, and she continues in the same distant, calm voice. "He wakes up just a little, and I tell him we're going to get out of there-but that he has to listen to me, he has to trust me. I ask him to kiss me." A smile flits across her face. "He's confused but he knows I would never ask him to do something without a reason."

"And does he?"

Kayo nods. "Yes. His mouth is warm." She blushes. "I accidentally french him."

Marie smiles to herself, but says only, "Now what's happening?"

"We keep kissing. I want to make sure this is over soon." Kayo tips her head back a little. "His hands are on my body, and I take off my underwear. When I pull back the blanket, he doesn't have his on." She grimaces. "The Hood knew what he wanted and prepared for it."

"I'm going to ask you to stop for a moment," Marie cuts in. "Listen to what you just said. This is what the _Hood_ wanted. Did you or Scott want this?"

Kayo keeps her eyes closed, still in a safe place of her own construction. "No. I did not want to have sex with Scott."

"Do you think Scott wanted to have sex with _you?"_

This brings a longer pause. "I don't know."

The hair prickles on the back of Marie's neck the way it does when she's on to something, and she nudges gently. "What do you mean? Did he tell you that he did?"

"No."

"Did he tell you to stop?"

"No. He didn't say anything." Tears begin to seep out from under her lashes. "He didn't have to. He was ready, and we did."

"All right. Can you open your eyes?"

Kayo does, blinking at the golden light of sunset. "I'm okay," she blurts, then turns to Marie in confusion. "I don't know why I said that."

"Because you want it to be true." Marie smiles gently. "Part of you _is_ okay, in that you are in no danger in your present surroundings. However, part of you is _not okay,_ and it's that part that we need to deal with. Do you remember what you just described to me?"

Kayo nods. "Yes."

"What you just described to me is non-consensual sex, commonly known as _rape."_

The word thuds onto the concrete like a lit bomb, and Kayo stares at the deck as if she can see the fuse burning. "Even with Scott's...reaction?"

Marie nods. "From what you've told me, the Hood gave Scott something that stripped his inhibitions, making him open to what he would normally consider off-limits. And yes-males can experience unwanted sexual activity, even if it _looked_ like they were consenting." Marie takes a moment to let Kayo digest that information, then continues. "The simple fact that this is taking such a toll on him-on _both_ of you-means that this was an _unwanted sexual encounter._ The sensations he experienced may have been enough to trigger his physiological response, but they occurred in a _context_ that he did not consent to."

"There's something I haven't told you," Kayo cuts in, as if the words are rushing from her before she can take them back. "When I was sixteen, Scott was my first kiss. I asked him-" She holds up her hands. "Wait. Let me start over."

"Of course."

"Thanks to Jeff's generosity, my father was able to send me to boarding school," Kayo explains. "I turned sixteen during the term break my second year. Before the end of term, my school hosted a dance and invited the boys' school down the road. Afterward, the girls in my dorm teased me about not having kissed a boy yet." She blushes like that long-ago schoolgirl. "The night of my birthday party, I asked Scott to teach me how to kiss. I thought he was so grown-up." She blushes harder. "And yes, even though he was like my big brother, I...I had a terrible crush on him. This was before Virgil and I were ever more than friends," she adds, and Marie nods. "It...almost went a lot farther than just kissing. He stopped it, though, and told me to go to bed."

"Did you?"

Kayo stiffens. "Of course I did!" She shakes her head forcefully, her ponytail whipping her cheek. "It would have meant the end of his Air Force career! It would have meant the end of our families being friends. Even a sixteen year old girl could see that."

Marie considers the young woman in front of her for a moment. "From what you're telling me, it sounds as if you're worried about two separate issues: One, you're concerned that the sheer fact that you completed this act means that you and Scott have hidden feelings for each other, even as you're planning to marry Virgil-and two, you're troubled by the idea that you would rather consent and live instead of refuse and die a virtuous death, true to Virgil to the end. Is that what you're telling me?"

Kayo sits forward, head in her hands. "It sounds absolutely insane, doesn't it?"

"However it _sounds,"_ Marie concedes, "it may be how you _feel_ -and it's important to acknowledge those feelings."

The young woman stares at the floor, unmoving for several heartbeats, then sits up with a look of determination. "No. I'm not worried that Scott and I have been harboring some unrequited passion; whatever I might have felt for him faded long ago. I _do_ know that he would give his life for mine, and I would do the same for him. The same goes for Virgil or any of his brothers; It's part and parcel of what we do." She sighs. "Jeff was fond of saying: ' _Never give up at any cost.'_ It's been ingrained into us from the time we were children." As Marie watches, Kayo's body begins to uncoil from a long-held tension. "We did what we had to do to survive. It was a zero-sum game, which is what the Hood wanted."

 _We did what we had to do to survive._ Marie knows that Kayo has heard this from both Scott and Ruth, but at long last, the truth of it has finally come home, has finally settled into the bones and heart of this proud, fierce young woman.

"How do you feel about Scott right at this moment?"

Kayo smiles sadly, her eyes filling again. "Right before this happened, I told him to remember that I would always love him, no matter what." She shrugs. "He was pretty out of it, so I don't know if he remembers me saying it, but it's true. He's my brother, my friend, my team leader. I just want us to get back to that place."

Marie pats Kayo's hand. "I think you've taken your first step in that direction. What about Virgil?"

Now her tears _do_ fall, and she lifts the hem of her shirt to wipe them away, revealing a prim sports bra. "I love him. I just hope he still loves me."

Marie smiles. "From what I've seen since I've been here, I don't think there's any question of that."

Kayo sniffles and manages a watery smile of her own. "You know, Dr. McKinley, I think you're right."


End file.
